Between Daylight And Darkness
by Jade8devlin
Summary: AU. Naomi moves to Bristol to live with her dad, and finds herself adopted into the loser squad at Roundview College. However, she finds herself intrigued by another group of students who never seem to eat, or come to school when the sun is out.
1. Cause Anywhere Is Better Than Here

Her mum had squeezed her tightly at the train station, made a show of tears and promises to call and write everyday, and then put her hands on either side of her face and pulled her until their foreheads were almost touching.

"Jesus, Mum." She said, trying to back out of the embarrassingly close contact. They were in public for Christ's sake! There were people everywhere.

"Naomi, look at me." Her mother's eyes were boring into her own, and she desperately tried to look anywhere but into them. Finally, with an eyeroll and a sigh, she conceded. "Naomi. You be nice to your father, I don't care what he says about me, alright? He's your father."

"Fuck's sake." Naomi blew out a breath, and yanked her head out of her mother's hands.

"Naomi!" She felt her mother's hand grasp hers tightly, squeeze until it became painful. "Just. Have fun, dear." Her mum tried to smile, but Naomi could see more tears gathering, and this had already been ridiculously emotional enough.

"Don't worry, mum. It's not like I'll like him better than you or anything." Naomi smiled, bittersweet, took a moment to squeeze her mother's hand back, and started taking steps backwards until her mother was forced to let go of her hand or be pulled along.

"Naomi!" Her mother called out, as she turned her back to walk through to the platform. Naomi stopped walking, took a deep breath, and plastered a smile to her face before she turned around.

Her mother was wringing her hands together, had tears leaking out of her eyes, and an anxious look on her face. Naomi could see she was struggling to hold herself together, and for a moment Naomi's heart went out to her even if, the thought bitterly echoed in the back of her head, even if she was being sent away because her mother thought she was too much to handle.

"I just love you, is all, dear." Her mum gave her a watery smile, a little head nod, and Naomi bit her lip and adjusted her shoulder bag.

She felt the words on the tip of her tongue, had flashes of her mother's reactions to them floating across her mind, of the smile her mother would give her, of the way they would ease the guilty thoughts her mother was undoubtedly thinking. The relief, too, that her daughter didn't hate her even if she was being sent away. Naomi felt the words there, but couldn't push them through, couldn't help the sick little spike of anger that ran through her, and hurt. So she didn't say them, and when a meek little voice was whispering that she would regret it, later, she ignored it.

"Thanks." She said instead, and watched her mother try hard not to let her face fall. "Bye." She let the word fall from her mouth simply, without effort, since it was much easier to say.

Later, on the train, she opened a copy of Atlas Shrugged and hid her face behind the pages, and cried so much she thought at one point she'd stop breathing. Which would be perfect, she thought, if she died on the way to stay with her father, whom she barely knew, and how regretful her mother would feel then, and how much she would be missed. She disliked spite, on principle, but fuck she was good at feeling it.

She managed to compose herself when the train arrived in Bristol, was preparing a list of allergies she could have if her father pointed out how red her eyes were, or that regardless of her desire to appear fine she couldn't help sniffling, but he noticed neither when she walked over to him. Instead, he smiled so big she thought his face might break in half. When he hugged her, he held on for much longer than she anticipated, and so she stood there awkwardly, and somewhat limply, as he clung to her and murmured that he'd missed her into her hair.

He was much taller than she'd expected, or remembered, and there were lines on his face and grey in his hair that she hadn't anticipated at all. Which was silly, really, since everyone got old regardless of who they were. But she didn't notice it in her mum because she saw her everyday, because she knew her mother better than anyone else, because when someone ages in front of you it takes so much longer to notice. Suddenly, and awfully, she missed her mother. Good God, she didn't know this man who claimed to be her father. Why was this happening?

"Let's get your luggage then, sweetheart." Her dad was still smiling at her, and she tried to return it, tried not to panic at the prospect that she would have to live with this man she didn't know. He reached out a hand, patted her shoulder, shook his head slightly, and began to lead her to the baggage car. "You've grown up so much, Naomi."

Yes, she thought, that's what happens to your children when you abandon them. They grow up and don't know you anymore. But she didn't say it because she was sure if she tried to talk she'd just start crying again.

The good thing about dads though, which made her feel slightly happier, was they insisted on carrying everything to the car. And, she blinked as he held the passenger door open for her, treated their daughters like delicate flowers.

As they drove through Bristol, to the place she would have to call home whether she liked it or not, she threw surreptitious glances at her dad. He was fairly nice looking, she thought, examining the shape of his nose and wondering if it was the same as hers, or his chin. There was something familiar about him, regardless of the pictures she'd seen or the blurry memory of a fifth birthday party that had been the last time she had seen him. It was nice, in a way.

Her dad pulled over near a row of identical townhouses, and looked at her expectantly. "Well, this is home." He said, and reached over to pat her knee. She barely managed to resist rolling her eyes, and telling him she wasn't five anymore, instead held the words behind a tight smile.

When he led her up the stairs, she had a brief mental image of pink wallpaper and princess patterns as he opened the door to her new room, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief when she saw white walls and a green bedspread.

Her dad raised his eyebrows at her, smiled, acted as if he was waiting for something. It took her a moment, as she sat on her bed and bounced, once.

"It's nice." She said, hoping it would be enough and he would go do something else so she could take a moment to wrap her head around this entire fucking situation. "Really." She said after a moment, and he looked relieved.

"I wasn't sure, you know, what you liked. Your mum told me 'No pink!'…" He raised his voice at this, chuckled nervously. "… so I thought green could be a nice, neutral colour. But if you like, we can repaint it. Together." He took a breath, reached out to touch her shoulder, and then withdrew his hand. "Sorry, sweetheart, I just can't believe you're here." He said softly, and smiled at her again. She raised her eyebrows, forced herself to smile back at him. Resisted saying 'Me, either.' because she knew it would sound insulting, and she couldn't make it sound any other way. "Well." He said after a moment. "I'll let you settle in. I might make us some tea, ey? Oh, I might even have some of those short bread biscuits you used to love."

"That was years ago, Dad." She said, slightly exasperated, and wished she'd kept her mouth shut as he nodded quickly, and gave her a strained smile. "I just need to settle in, you know." She mumbled.

He nodded at her, and moved to leave her apparent new room. "I know, love. Pardon the excitement. I'll let you get settled in, and you come down when you're ready." He smiled at her so kindly, she had to fight to remember that she resented him as well as her mother for this.

He closed the door behind him, and she fell backwards onto her new bed and spread her arms out to either side of her. "Fuck." She said quietly. "Fucking fuckity mother fuck fuck." She sighed, and pulled herself back into a seated position, and looked around her room. It was nice, but not as big as her old room. It didn't have her bedspread, for one, it was in her suitcase but she couldn't be arsed getting it out just yet. It didn't have her mirror, or the stickers she'd collected and stuck to it over the years. There wasn't a patch of burnt carpet near her bed from knocking over a hookah pipe she'd nicked from one of her mum's hippy friends, or a spot of paint darker than the rest on her wall because Stevie Parish had drawn penises on it with black pen when they were seven and her mum had had to paint over them.

This wasn't home. Bristol didn't feel like home. As she angrily wiped tears away from her cheeks, she decided it never would be if she could help it.

Later that night, as her dad served her sausage and mash, with peas and gravy, she stared at her plate until he asked her if something was wrong.

"Oh, nothing. I just haven't eaten this kind of thing in ages." She picked up her cutlery, and prodded the sausage with her fork.

"It was your favourite, when you were little." Her dad said, cutting up his own. "You used to say 'Daddy daddy can we have bangers and mash?'" He chuckled as he forked sausage and potato into his mouth. "'Oh please!' you'd say, and turn your big baby blues on me. Oh and that little pout you used to do!" Her dad smiled fondly, and then cleared his throat and glanced at her. "Anyway. I can make you something else if you like?"

She pushed some of the peas around on her plate, reached for her glass of water and took a sip before looking at him. "It's fine, Dad." She ate some potato and remembered, suddenly, that she loved the way her dad made mash. "Thanks." She said after a moment, and they ate in silence for a while.

"So tomorrow, I'll take you to Roundview in the morning and get you settled in there, and I'll pick you up afterwards, alright?" Her dad wiped a napkin over his mouth as she looked at him startled.

"College starts so soon?" She felt her stomach flip and hated that she felt nervous.

"Yes, love. I thought your mother told you?" Her dad stood, and reached for her plate, stacking it onto his own and carrying them to the sink. "It's been back for a few weeks, so you'll have to do some catch up, but they'll give you everything you need tomorrow."

"Oh." Shit. She'd boycotted the first weeks of term at her old college, particularly since they hadn't fired Mr Jeffrey or, as she'd called him, Mr Inappropriate Handsie. She had refused to continue learning from him, had attempted to stage a student strike until justice prevailed, and had ended up suspended for truancy anyway. And then, her mum had had enough and sent her to Bristol. But still, it hadn't occurred to her that she'd actually have to go back now.

"You'll be fine, I'm sure you'll make some friends. It's a very good college." Her dad was trying to be reassuring, misreading the stricken look on her face for nerves rather than the realisation she couldn't do whatever she liked with her days anymore. "Do you want to watch some television?" Her dad asked, filling the kitchen sink and putting on a pair of pink washing up gloves that looked slightly too small for his hands.

"I might go to bed actually." She said, and stood up, biting her lip.

"Oh." She ignored that her dad sounded disappointed. "Alright then, well, goodnight sweetheart." He turned to give her a small smile, and she nodded at him.

"Night."

But she didn't sleep for a long time. Just lay on her back and stared at her ceiling and counted the glowing star stickers that she'd forgotten were there, and remembered her dad putting her on his shoulders and standing on a chair, which made her mum laugh and yell for him to be careful and get down, but he didn't until she'd reached up and placed every star in the perfect place of her choosing.

V^^^^^V

Her dad drove off as she stood in front of Roundview College and debated whether it was worth walking inside or not. Her dad had insisted on coming in with her, and she'd been on the verge of violence when he'd finally chuckled, marvelled at how grown up she was, again, and let her go with a pat on the knee and plans to pick her up when the day was over.

There were people her own age all around her, walking up the front steps and chatting to each other, laughing and smoking, and she pulled out a cigarette of her own so she had something to do instead of stand awkwardly by herself. She looked up at the sky and exhaled. The weather was shit, cloudy as hell and it would probably rain. She sighed, stubbed out her cigarette, and began walking into hell.

Well, she thought as the office lady smiled at her and bustled about, maybe it wasn't hell. "Here you go then, dear. There shouldn't be anything missing, all your papers and where your courses are and, oh! Hang on, I forgot your sticker." The lady opened the top drawer of her desk and rummaged around until she pulled out a long thin sticker that had 'I heart Roundview' on it.

"Oh." Naomi took it. "And it says 'heart' instead of a picture of one." The lady beamed at her expectantly. "How hip and modern." Naomi said, and smirked as the lady's expression froze just slightly.

"Well. Good luck, dear." The woman said, and turned away from her abruptly as Naomi sighed and rolled her eyes. She was terrible at first impressions anyway, so whatever.

When she walked into her philosophy class, she felt her face heat up as every student turned to look at her. A boy in the corner leered at her, and then pursed his lips as she glared at him. The girl seated next to him cocked her head and stared at her, and Naomi was on the verge of walking out when the female teacher turned around and addressed her.

"Yes? What do you want?" The teacher asked, scrutinizing her and clearly feeling interrupted.

"I'm in this class." Naomi said haltingly. "I'm new, obviously." Naomi shifted her weight from one foot to the other as the teacher just continued to stare at her.

"Oh, yes." She said after a long moment. "Naomi. Yes. Well. Sit down would you and I'll get on with it, shall I?" The teacher turned back toward the board, and began scribbling on it again.

Naomi glanced around the room for an empty seat, did her best to ignore stares, and found just one next to a blonde girl with pigtails. She moved to the chair quickly and sat down, giving a brief smile to the girl next to her who smiled back far too excitedly.

"Whizzer! I have a desk mate!" The girl was grinning at her, and Naomi blinked. "I'm Pandora! You can call me Panda though, everyone does, even mum. And you're Naomi? That's such a posh name. Mum says Pandora's a posh name, but it won't suit me till I'm an adult so till then I'm just Panda."

"Pandora, please shut it." The teacher said without turning around, and Naomi contained a snort as Pandora's face fell just slightly.

"Sorry Miss Clark." Pandora glanced back at Naomi, and her excitement seemed to deflate as she noticed the look on her face. Naomi, for a moment, felt bad for her, and offered her an actual smile.

By lunch time, though, she had regretted the nicety since Pandora had declared them to be new best friends, and had offered to be her very own personal Roundview tour guide, which amounted to Pandora tugging on her elbow and dragging her around introducing her to everyone.

"And those girls are the beauty ones, but they're all sluts cos they surf and turf with boys, and I was one of them but I hated it cos it was bleeding boring all that nail stuff…" Pandora chatted away as Naomi ignored the group of girls Pandora was pointing at. She'd noticed a group of people lounging on some tables and chairs a little way off from everyone else, recognised the boy who had leered at her in Philosophy, and felt his eyes on her again.

"Who are they?" She asked, and nodded her head toward them when Pandora looked at her confused. Pandora followed her nod, and then quickly turned her head away from the people.

"Don't worry about them, Nai. Anyways though I didn't surf and turf until…" Pandora kept walking for a moment as Naomi stopped and shrugged out of Pandora's grasp.

The group of people had turned and they were all looking at her now, and it was unnerving. There were five them, two boys and three girls. The boy from philosophy was smoking a cigarette and standing, staring over at her and smiling cockily. Next to him, an alarmingly thin brunette was sitting on the edge of the table, leaning back on her arms, and gazing at her with a blank look on her face. The other boy was sitting on a chair, legs splayed out in torn jeans, and black hair falling across his forehead. He looked a bit mopey, Naomi thought, and then she saw the twins sitting on the other side of the table. Or what had to be twins, unless they were exceptionally best friends who tried very hard to look alike. One of them was looking at her with a blank expression, her face noticeably made up, even from the distance Naomi was from them, and a singlet top making her cleavage seem to have a life of it's own. And the other one, she recognised her from philosophy too, was gazing at her, her eyes wide open and curious, smiling when Naomi met her eyes.

"Come on Naomi! I've got to introduce you to my friends, they're whizzer, top notch fellows." Pandora grinned at her, and grabbed her hand. She was tugged around the corner of the college building, and she lost sight of the group. "Thomas! JJ! Look!" She heard Pandora say, and turned to see two boys sitting at a table. Pandora took her backpack off and swung it onto the table, knocking over a bottle of water. She picked it up quickly, and turned a sheepish smile to Naomi. "I'm useless." She said, and Naomi tried to smile reassuringly but she honestly didn't care. All she could think about was the group of people, and the way they had looked at her like those children from Village Of The Damned, or something.

"Hello, I'm Jonah Jeremiah Jones, though people seem to think saying my entire name is far too much effort so I've learned to respond to 'JJ' though I also respond to 'Jonah', or 'Jeremiah', or 'Hey you', or 'Freak boy'…" JJ had his hand outstretched toward her, and Naomi shook it after a moment, feeling a bit silly. "… not that I am a freak, or well much of one, but sometimes I get locked on to something and can't stop myself because of a defect in my social skills…" Naomi watched as the other boy, Thomas, put a hand on JJ's shoulder. JJ stopped talking and gave Thomas a slightly relieved look.

"What JJ is trying to say, is welcome." Thomas said, and gave her such a warm smile that she instantly liked him. "I am Thomas. You are?"

Pandora sat down at the table, and eagerly patted the seat next to her. Naomi threw a quick look around her, trying not to obviously search for better options, before she sighed and sat down.

"Naomi." She said, thankful that Thomas didn't want to shake her hand as well.

Thomas took his hand off JJ's shoulder, clasped his hands in front of him, nodding at her slightly. "Very pleased to meet you." He said, and she actually believed that he meant it.

"Naomi's from London! But she's been all over! I bet she knows loads of exciting stuff!" Pandora grinned at her happily, reaching into her bag and pulling out a box of food. She opened it, and her face fell as she looked at the contents.

"Vitamin rich, fat free bits of cardboard again, Panda?" JJ asked, lifting himself slightly so he could peer into Pandora's lunch box.

Pandora was quiet for a moment, before turning to Naomi with an embarrassed look on her face. "Mum keeps giving me seaweed crackers and oranges for lunch cos she says ladies don't get fat, only I think they taste like burning dog's bum." Naomi snorted, and JJ reached in and took one of the crackers, and began to eat it.

"They're actually quite good for you Panda, though not terribly filling."

Thomas was rummaging around in his own bag, and pulled a paper bag out of it with a flourish. Pandora's eyes lit up and she stood up with a squeal, leaning over the table to kiss Thomas quickly on the cheek. He gave her a shy look in return, for just a moment, and then reached into the paper bag and pulled out a doughnut, handing it to Pandora who sat back down and immediately began eating it.

Thomas watched Pandora fondly for a moment before turning to Naomi. "So tell me Naomi, why you are here." JJ turned his attention to her as well, blinking and smiling at her in anticipation, seaweed biscuit crumbs falling onto his jumper.

Naomi looked at each of them in turn for a moment, before opening her mouth. "Oh. Right. Well. My mum lives in London and she and I had, er, a falling out of sorts, and dad lives here so now I do as well." She shrugged her shoulders at them, holding her bag tightly on her lap. "I grew up here, before they split up. Then mum and I moved. That's it really."

Thomas nodded at her, handing a second doughnut to Pandora automatically. "And you like this place?" He asked.

Naomi leant back slightly as JJ launched himself across the table to grab another seaweed biscuit. He munched on it happily, as Pandora made little moaning noises as she ate the second doughnut next to her. Naomi looked from one to the other for a moment, before looking at Thomas as he just shrugged at her, as if to say 'Aren't they funny?'. Naomi attempted to smile, though it felt more like a grimace.

"It's alright." She said, squinting at a spot behind Thomas and JJ before meeting Thomas' eyes again and shrugging. "No real choice, was there?" Thomas looked at her for a moment, before he simply nodded, and a question bubbled up and out of her mouth before she could stop it. "What's with that group, do you know them? With the twins?" Thomas looked at her warily before JJ excitedly dropped his biscuit and launched into the conversation.

"They're a right creepy bunch, aren't they? They always hang out together, come to think of it I've rarely seen them interact with anyone other than teachers, and they spend every lunch and class sitting together and don't talk to anyone, except for Cook who sometimes chats up attractive girls, and that's really the extent to which they interact with other people, and…" JJ hushed his voice suddenly as the group walked around the corner behind Naomi and Pandora.

Naomi turned quickly, seeing the tall mopey one first, loping along with his hands in his pockets and his eyes cast down. He looked at her suddenly, lifting his eyes to give a sideways glance, before returning his gaze to the ground.

"… That's Freddie." JJ whispered to her, desperately trying not to look over at the group and failing miserably. JJ's voice cracked suddenly. "Effy."

Naomi saw the brunette next, her arms swinging by her sides and her hair being blown slightly by the breeze. She seemed to be looking at something away from the college, before her head turned quickly and she looked at Naomi and winked, smirking as if she knew a secret no one else would understand. Naomi raised her eyebrows slightly, though the other boy, Cook, had caught her attention as he jogged up to Effy and lifted her off the ground suddenly, carrying her as they both laughed.

"She winked at me she winked at me she winked at me she winked at me she winked at me she winked at me…" JJ's eyes were wide and when Naomi glanced at him it was like he was staring into nothing. Pandora had stopped eating her doughnut, and was sitting sullenly as the group walked past them. She nudged Thomas' hand with her own, and he immediately turned to JJ and shook him.

"Please be calm." Thomas said, and JJ nodded, blinked and sighed. "It was not you she winked for." Thomas inclined his head toward Naomi, and JJ frowned slightly in confusion.

Naomi had already turned back, and watched as the twins appeared. The made up one was first, striding along with her shoulders back and her head held high. Her dress sense seemed better suited for a night out than college, Naomi thought, and the twin turned to look at her. Naomi felt herself blush slightly as the girl looked her up and down, before raising an eyebrow at her and turning her attention away.

"Katie." She heard JJ whisper, and Katie looked over at him sharply, almost as if she'd heard him, before sniggering.

"Hey Gay-Jay!" She called out, curling her fingers into a small wave, and then laughing as JJ lowered his eyes from her and turned nearly as red as his bag.

Naomi would've felt sorry for him if she hadn't seen the other twin then, walking slowly and looking at her with her head tilted inquisitively. Naomi felt her brows furrow slightly as she watched the girl walk past them. She was dressed far more demurely than her sister, her shoulders slightly hunched. The girl gave her a half smile, and Naomi caught herself just as she was about to return it.

"Fuck's sake Ems, hurry the fuck up would you." Katie appeared in front of her twin, grabbed her arm and began to tug her forward at a faster rate. "Christ, stop staring at that fashion reject." And Naomi felt her eyes narrow as the girl simply looked down for a moment, before obeying her sister and looking away from Naomi. Naomi watched them as they all disappeared from view round the next corner.

"And the last one was Emily. She's the nicest by far but possibly to make up for her sister who is, undoubtedly, the queen bitch of hell." JJ's face was still red as he looked up at her, and Pandora started eating again without saying a word.

Naomi cleared her throat, though found it partially difficult to talk. "I thought, uh, you said Cook was the only one who interacted with other people." She did her best to look at JJ with something resembling sympathy as he took a deep breath, and then let out a small smile.

"Yes, well, I don't think you could call what Katie does 'interaction' as much as 'abuse'." He shook his head slightly, and then gave her an all out grin. "Thankfully I only have her in one of my classes and the teacher, Mr Roberts, lovely man, extremely professional in most situations, doesn't tolerate bullying or behaviour of the like, and Katie never talks back to teachers, possibly the only people she doesn't talk back to, and Mr Roberts particularly likes me because, as he says, I have a keen intellect and natural curiosity that belies my age." JJ smugly batted his eyelashes at her, and Thomas laughed and pounded him on the back.

"There is the confidence I love about you." He said, and ruffled JJ's hair. JJ laughed and swatted at his hand, and Naomi smiled despite herself. After a moment, she noticed Pandora looking at her seriously, and Naomi raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" She asked, trying not to stare at the sugar coating Pandora's mouth.

"Oh nothing really. Just." Pandora bit one of her fingernails, looked alarmingly frightened for a moment. "Having attention from them, Effy and the lot, it's not a good thing, Nai." Naomi frowned at her, opened her mouth to say something but Pandora cut her off. "Be careful. It's all I'm saying." And Naomi couldn't stop the eye roll as they started packing up their bags and walking back into the college building. The three of them walked together, Naomi holding herself back just slightly, and wondering what episode of the Twilight Zone she'd stumbled into.

She waved off her odd, supposed new friends, and tried not to feel too relieved when none of them followed her into her politics class. She stopped walking as soon as she was inside the classroom, though, seeing Emily and the whole lot of them sitting in the back corner talking to each other. They looked over at her as she stared at them, and something Katie said made them all smile. Naomi flipped Katie off, couldn't help or stop herself, and Emily smirked at her, which made Naomi blink in surprise.

"Why are you in my classroom?" She heard a gruff, Irish sounding voice ask her, and turned from the group to look at the source of the question.

"Because I'm in this class, obviously." She said, and raised her eyebrows at him defiantly. He surprised her by chuckling.

"Fuel to the fire then. Only got one spot open, so take a seat over there and we'll begin. Oh, and if you call me anything other than Keiran I won't respond to you." He sat down at his desk, lifted his feet onto it and reclined with his hands in his lap as the last students trickled in behind her. She stood awkwardly, for what felt like the millionth time that day, until the only available seat seemed to be glaring at her from the corner. Next to Emily, of course. Of course, she thought, of fucking course.

She sat down in it, ignored that she felt like all the hairs on her arm had stood up at once, and turned her head slightly to nod at Emily. Emily was frowning, and as she turned to meet Naomi's eyes, she licked her lips.

"What's your name, Blondie?" She heard called out from the front of the room, and jumped a little.

"Naomi!" She said, slightly too loud, and Keiran blinked at her, before nodding and looking at a stack of paper on his desk, and starting to talk.

"Emily." She heard said softly next to her, the voice rasping.

Naomi lifted pens and paper from her bag, and let out a small smile. She was on the verge of saying something in reply, when she heard Cook murmuring behind her, and she turned to see him and Freddie sharing a desk behind them. Effy and Katie were next to the boys, one row over, and Katie was smirking at her as Effy stared out the window over Freddie's head.

"Hey there darlin." Cook's voice was low, and he reached forward and touched her hair. "Pretty and clever, aren't you?" She watched him grin, and his eyes narrow, and was about to slap his hand away when Emily reached over and did it for her.

"Fuck off Cook." She heard Emily say, but there was no real anger behind it, and they were smiling at each other as he sat back and Emily turned back to face Keiran.

"You didn't have to do that." Naomi said quietly, though she had wanted to say 'Thanks.'

Emily just shrugged slightly, and stared at her until Naomi felt herself blush and break the eye contact.

When the class finished, Naomi began to put her things back in her bag, and felt a strange disappointment when she turned and saw Emily's seat empty, and realised she hadn't noticed her leave.

V^^^^^V

That night she lay in bed staring at her ceiling, the faint sound of the television downstairs, and her dad clearing his throat every now and again, filtering it's way into her room. She barely noticed the sounds, however, or that it wasn't even past ten.

Her dad had seemed pleased that she'd made friends, though she hadn't told him. She'd been too busy hiding her face as Pandora, Thomas and JJ had all waved at her happily as she'd driven off, and her dad had waved as excitedly back. She'd seen, in the corner of the car park, Emily and her friends getting into a car, Effy in the driver's seat, and had sunk down in case they saw her getting a lift with her dad. Not that she cared about that sort of thing usually. Or ever, which downright alarmed her that all of a sudden she did.

She stared at her ceiling, at the glowing points of light, and ran a hand through her hair. They intrigued her, Emily and her friends, and she strongly disliked the feeling. It unnerved her that she couldn't stop thinking about them, couldn't help wondering who they were, and why they didn't hang out with anyone else. Were they Mormons? And she almost laughed when she realised Mormons didn't dress like Katie or Effy, and Cook seemed far too sexual. Could they be a weird sex club, then? She'd heard about them on the news, of a group of six teenagers in America who lived in a polyamorous relationship, to the shock and outrage of, well, everyone else. She frowned, not ruling the possibility out. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and had an image of the five of them in an orgy. Oh God, she thought, and opened her eyes. Out of my head. Out of my head!

She rolled over, facing the window of her room and stared into the actual sky, or what little she could see of it. The stars, the real stars, shone only the slightest bit brighter than the artificial stars on her ceiling, though she couldn't see many of them. As her eyelids began to droop, she had a sudden image of fire, of red hair and brown eyes, and a shy smile. Maybe they were murderers, or rapists. A cult of some kind? Or more likely, she thought sleepily, Pandora was just jealous that her new friend would probably be stolen away, and was trying to alarm her for no proper reason. Naomi half smiled in the dark, her eyes closed, as a sudden desire to be around Emily and her friends overwhelmed her. Because of the mystery, she told herself. That was all. She decided she would say something caustically witty and impressive in politics tomorrow, and they would want to become her friends, and then… Well. Then she would find out what the fuck was up with them. And maybe, she'd learn from them how to be so detached from everyone, but not have to be so alone while doing so. She kept smiling even as she fell asleep and didn't wonder for a minute whether this new desire of hers was the least bit strange.

V^^^^^V


	2. Stars Burning Holes Through The Dark

She bit her lip and turned back to her dad's car, knocking quickly on the passenger window before he could drive away. She watched him apply the parking brake, and then reach over and unwind the window, looking at her expectantly.

"Dad." Naomi started, and she forcibly kept her eyes from rolling when he grinned indulgently, which he did every time she called him that. "Do you think this afternoon I could just get the bus home?"

Her dad frowned slightly, the grin falling from his face. "Oh, well, I suppose that could be alright sweetheart. You will come straight home?" He peered at her, and she suppressed an exasperated sigh. "It's not that I don't trust you…" Her dad started, and she spoke before she could stop herself.

"You don't know me well enough to trust me." She pretended the wounded look on his face didn't affect her, didn't make her feel guilty, or angry.

"Well." He said. He sighed for a moment, looked through the windshield at the rest of the students walking into Roundview. "Alright, love. Get the bus back." He offered her a smile. "Have a good day. I'll see you this afternoon." She nodded as he began to wind the window up, couldn't bring herself to thank him for allowing her to do something bloody six year olds could.

"Naomi!" She heard, and saw JJ jog over to her. "I was just thinking about you actually, not in any kind of strange way though, not that I don't find you attractive or anything, because I do, but wait not that I want to…" She stared at him blankly as he started to redden.

"JJ." She said, trying not to sound as uncomfortable as she felt.

"Shit. Sorry. Just nerves you know, sometimes it's best if I have a tic tac in my mouth to distract me." He pulled out a small orange box and grabbed a tic tac, giving her an open smile and shrugging. She smiled a little too, realising she was actually starting to like him despite herself.

"So you were thinking about me?" She asked as they started to walk up the steps to the main door of the college. She watched him quickly chew the tic tac with a loud crunching noise, and swallow.

"Yes, I was thinking that since you started here quite late, or well, we've been back weeks now, that you might need help in catching up to the rest of us, though I'm sure the course content isn't that different to wherever you were before, but I know I'd hate to be somewhere new and falling behind, and you're in my philosophy course, and French too, and you know Thomas is fluent in French and has helped me a great deal, and anyway I thought we could help you if you like." JJ popped another tic tac into his mouth, and Naomi tried to hide her surprise that she shared any classes with JJ, let alone two, as she hadn't noticed him at all the day before.

"Oh. Well. Alright." She said, shrugging. "I actually haven't been to college at all this year. Part of the reason I'm here." She looked at him sideways and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Well, I don't like to judge people or anything because I don't think it's fair, you know, to make judgements based on one or two things, like people usually do to me because I talk too much and am quite painfully conscious of how inappropriate I am at times." He swallowed the second tic tac as they arrived at philosophy and he gestured grandly in front of him, letting her walk in ahead. She saw Pandora waving at her excitedly, and in the back corner, Emily and Cook sitting together and laughing over something. Emily's eyes shot to hers, and Cook followed the look to Naomi, and back to Emily, and whispered something to Emily that made him laugh loudly at his own joke. Emily smirked, shoved him in the arm, and tore her eyes away from Naomi's.

"Hi Nai!" Pandora called out, and Naomi walked over to her and sat down, feeling a niggling at the back of her head like she'd forgotten something important, a decision she had made to do with Emily and her strange group. She shook her head slightly, and turned to Pandora.

"Hey Panda." She began getting things out of her bag, ignoring the murmurs and low laughter coming from Cook and Emily, focusing intently on Miss Clark as she started scribbling on the board and talking about the next module they'd be starting. Pandora had her face scrunched up next to her, nodding every so often and writing things down.

Maybe she would take JJ up on his offer of help, she thought, and imagined sitting with him and Thomas, and maybe Pandora, for hours on end going through coursework. She had a running montage of this happening over the rest of the year, and the look on her parents faces when she managed all A's, and how her mum would cry and squeeze her and declare that she had done the right thing, sending Naomi to her father, because look at her success. She could go to any uni she liked now, and her dad would beam at her and nudge her conspiratorially at her graduation dinner, because JJ clearly liked her just that little bit too much. And they would end up at the same university, somehow, and he'd obsess over her until, while topping all her classes and charming her lecturers, she'd finally acquiesce to sleep with him. And they would marry after she became a highly successful lawyer slash politician slash published political writer, and he'd be a high school science teacher, and she had to keep herself from laughing at this, because really. They would have a nice little life, and four children, and she'd probably die first and he wouldn't last much longer, on account of his eternal adoration. And that would be that. She snorted derisively. What a fucking boring life.

Naomi blinked as a bell rang somewhere, and she realised she missed the entire lesson with a daydream. That had never happened to her before in her life. She watched JJ leave the room, wondered what the fuck caused her mind to imagine a life with him, and started belatedly packing her things as Pandora gushed that she'd see her at lunch and ran off. As she stood, she saw Emily staring at her with a guilty look on her face, but had looked away before Naomi could frown, or begin to wonder why.

V^^^^^V

"Will you join us Friday evening?" Thomas asked pleasantly as they ate lunch together, and Naomi picked at a sausage sandwich, wondering again if her Dad realised she wasn't eternally five. "For study?" He clarified as she looked up at him.

"Oh." She said, and noticed that Pandora was staring at her lunch jealously. She sighed and pushed her sandwich over, ignoring Pandora's seaweed biscuits completely as Pandora dug in to her sandwich. She caught JJ's eye, eagerly looking at her, and her mind flashed briefly to the daydream she'd had in philosophy. "I'm not sure yet, have to check with my dad. You know." She shrugged as Thomas looked at her for a moment, and JJ couldn't help but appear slightly disappointed.

"Mum had to put Thomas and JJ through the ringer before she'd let me be alone with them, and even after it had to be at my house in case I went off and got pregnant or gang banged at theirs." Pandora took a big bite of her sandwich as Thomas chuckled at her.

"Your mother is lovely to care so much about you." He said, and Naomi noticed how soft his looks were for Pandora, and… Oh shit, she thought suddenly, looking from Pandora to Thomas and back again. She watched Pandora grin at Thomas, turned her head with a feeling of mounting horror to see JJ smiling shyly at her. No wonder Pandora was so excited to befriend her. Right. Clearly Pandora and Thomas were somehow entangled, and JJ had always been the third wheel. She had images of the three of them hanging out, wishing for a fourth, a female, a girl that JJ could love like Thomas seemed to love Pandora. Oh fuck, she thought, standing suddenly and smiling tightly.

"I have to go to the bathroom." She said, and just managed to hold herself back from running before Pandora could suggest coming with her.

She splashed water on her face, leaned heavily on the sink, and stared into her own reflection. She had never been a daydreamer. She wondered if the morning's sojourn into a life lived with JJ, of all people, was the result of stress, or the way, she now noticed, the three of them looked at her so suggestively and expectantly. Jesus, she thought. Two days in and I've got a potential husband lined up. Mum would shit herself.

She jumped as the door opened, and Emily walked into the bathroom.

"Hey." Emily said, looking as if she wanted to say more, but waited.

"Hi." Naomi managed to get out, straightening her shoulders and wiping droplets of water off her forehead.

"So you're new?" Emily asked, strangely awkward, walking over to lean her hip on the sink next to Naomi.

"Yeah." She said, and sighed. "I'll tell you, it's been a mind fuck and a half." She watched as Emily nodded, and gave her a half smile. She was pretty, in a strange way. Delicate features and pale skin, almost doll like. Not that she usually paid attention to that sort of thing.

"Oh?" Emily just said, and Naomi felt herself relax slightly, felt the urge to actually talk to someone instead of being forced into conversation.

"Living with my dad, for starters, and I think I've been adopted into a group for the purpose of playing happy couples or something." She bit her bottom lip, looked at the ground for a moment, and then turned and mirrored Emily's stance. "Not that you need to care about that, obviously." She felt a little silly, for all of a second, but Emily looked at her openly, without judgement, and something else that she couldn't put her finger on.

"Of course I care," Emily raised her eyebrows at her. "No one should be subjected to Pandora and JJ. It's a shame they got to you before I did." Emily smiled at her, and Naomi found herself returning it easily.

"What's the deal with that, anyway? You all don't like them, they don't like you..." She trailed off as she watched Emily frown.

"Stupid teenage stuff." Emily said, looking away from Naomi briefly. "We'll probably mature and get over it." She smirked. "Look, I actually followed you in here to ask you something."

Naomi blinked, unaware that Emily had followed her, and thinking that they had been talking by accident. "What?" She asked, leaning away from the other girl slightly, as a brief flash of Pandora's warning echoed through her head.

"Are you free on Friday night? We're going to a club, me and my friends, and thought you might," Emily rushed out the next words, and Naomi was surprised to see she was nervous. "Want to come out with us?" Emily peered at her for a moment, eyebrows raised, waiting.

Naomi felt the urge to start smiling, rolled her eyes at herself internally, and looked back at Emily from beneath her fringe. "It depends," She said. "Why are you inviting me? I've been led to believe you and your friends are somewhat exclusive."

Emily snorted. "Perhaps I misread you, then." Emily began walking backwards, to the bathroom door. "I thought you'd be the type of girl to find things out for yourself, instead of believe blindly." She turned and opened it. "I'll see you in politics, you can give me your answer there." She winked, and Naomi kept her expression blank until the door had shut with a faint squeak, and then she'd smiled, felt a burst of excitement in her stomach.

When she returned to the table, she was still smiling.

"Actually, I can't do Friday night after all, remembered I already have plans." She shrugged apologetically and tried her best not to appear too smug. Even so, she couldn't help grinning as she picked her bag up, waiting as everyone stood up and collected their things.

"Perhaps some other time." Thomas smiled at her simply and, to hell with it she thought, she nodded at him.

"Certainly."

She sat down next to Emily in her politics classroom, pursed her lips, and narrowed her eyes. Emily gave her a sideways smile, and Naomi wondered for a moment that this felt natural.

"After much deliberation," Naomi began, unpacking her bag and throwing sideways glances at Emily. "I have decided to grace you with my presence on Friday after all." She paused for effect, pleased when Emily reached over briefly to squeeze her hand.

"Good choice." Emily said to her, and there was warmth in her eyes, and Naomi found she didn't want to look away. She felt the playful cockiness slip off her face as Emily looked at her intently, and they both broke the moment at the same time. Emily cleared her throat, and Naomi bit her lip and looked at the blank sheets of paper on her desk.

"Coming out with us, poppet?" She heard Cook ask her, lowly, and she turned her head and peeked at him over her shoulder. Out of her periphery she saw Emily turned toward her.

"Yeah." She whispered, and when her eyes shot briefly to Emily, she was mildly shocked to see the red head staring at her neck, seemingly transfixed. She frowned a little, reached a hand up to rub the side of her neck self consciously, and when she glanced at Emily again was relieved to see she was focused on Keiran.

"There's a good girl." Cook grinned cheekily, leant back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. He turned to Effy and Katie, nodded at them, and Effy turned her kaleidoscopic gaze to her, blinked slowly, and then looked away, back out the window over Freddie's head.

When class was finished, Effy wandered over to her and Naomi couldn't help but feel cornered even though she was probably half her body weight.

"Want a ride home?" Effy asked her, and then just waited while Naomi packed the rest of her things up.

"Is there room?" Naomi replied after a few moments, and Effy smiled.

"Of course. The boys can walk." Effy turned. "Come on." She said, and began walking briskly out of the classroom and in the direction of the car park while Naomi did her best to keep up without looking like it was any effort. Katie and Emily had waited outside the room, and they walked just behind them, whispering to each other about something Naomi couldn't make out, as much as she tried to eavesdrop.

"Shotgun, losers." Katie called as they approached a different car than the one Naomi had seen the day before, and Effy blew Katie a little kiss as she got into the driver's seat.

"Well, get in, then." Emily said, and got into the car behind Effy. Naomi caught sight of Thomas and Pandora in the distance, Pandora's face stricken as she watched Naomi. She felt something resembling guilt wash over her, and then felt stupid because it wasn't like she was doing anything wrong. She got in beside Emily, who licked her lips and looked away from her.

"I don't know the best directions, but my address is…" She started, leaning forward as Effy revved the engine.

"It's okay, I know where you live." Effy cut her off, putting the car into gear. As they drove past Pandora and Thomas, Naomi childishly put her hand up at the side of her face, even though it was useless to try and hide.

"You're not too far from us, really." Emily said to her with an easy smile, a quick touch to her knee.

"From you and Katie?" Naomi adjusted her position in her seat, rested part of her back on the car door so she could look at Emily fully.

"From all of us." Effy answered from the front, winding her window all the way down and letting the wind ruffle her hair.

"Are you neighbours, or something?" She tried to sound disinterested, though was almost gagging on the desire to know more.

"What she's saying is we live together but don't make a fucking big deal of it." She couldn't see Katie, but after a moment the passenger window wound down and bits of bright red hair were flying around as wildly as Effy's. Effy turned to Katie and smiled beatifically.

Naomi thought for a moment that her own eyebrows had disappeared into her hairline, and Emily chuckled. "It's not a weird sex club." She said, and Effy and Katie burst into laughter in the front seat.

"How did you…" Naomi started, feeling horribly left out of something she didn't even know about.

"You don't have to be a mind reader to know that's what people think about us. Or well, some people." Emily looked out her window for a moment. "Oh, we're here."

Naomi was surprised to see they'd reached her house so soon. "Is it worth asking how you know where I live?" And when Effy winked at her, and Emily just shrugged innocently, she opened her car door, and decided she had far too many questions, and now wasn't the time to ask them.

"Listen," Emily said suddenly, leaning over as Naomi got out. She bent over slightly, ducked her head back into the car and met Emily's eyes.

"What?" She asked, trying to control a weird dropping sensation in her stomach as she noticed a freckle on the right side of Emily's cheek. Had she noticed that before? And further more, actually, why care?

"We won't be at college the next few days, but we'll pick you up Friday at ten, alright?" Emily raised her eyebrows as Naomi stopped herself from asking where they would be.

"Alright." She said, and Emily gave her a small wave before she pulled back from the car and shut the door. Music pumped suddenly out of the car windows, and she saw Katie twiddling with the radio dial before Effy tooted the horn twice and sped off.

She took a deep breath, and walked into her house. "I survived getting home by myself!" She called out, and heard a shout from somewhere out the back. She walked through the house to the garden, and saw her dad bent over some bushes.

"There you are! Well, how was it?" He stood up and shook dirt off his trousers, and she noted the gardening gloves and wide brimmed hat, and snorted.

"Nice outfit." She said, squinting at him as he chuckled. "It was alright, I actually got a lift from, um…" She wasn't sure if she could call them friends, yet, and her dad jumped in anyway.

"Oh those lovely friends from yesterday?" He said, beaming at her, and while she didn't enjoy lying, she felt herself nodding. It was too difficult to explain Emily and her lot anyway, wasn't it? 'Oh Dad, I've made friends with a bunch of people that may or may not belong to a weird sex club that involves orgies and also, I'm going clubbing with them on Friday night so don't wait up, yeah?'

"Yeah, them." She shifted her weight. "Actually, Dad," She watched as the title made his face soften. "They've invited me to study with them on Friday night. Would that be alright?" She bit her lip for a moment as her dad looked at her in surprise.

"Of course, sweetheart." He shook his head for a moment, and then laughed, walked over to her and rubbed her shoulder. "I'm very proud that you've made friends so quickly, love. Come on, I'll make us some tea." And as he led her back into the house, she ignored the guilty feeling tugging at her stomach. They were still friends, after all. It didn't matter that they just happened to be different friends, did it?

V^^^^^V

College felt empty without Emily, and she spent each politics class sparing glances at the empty seat next to her, wondering where they were and trying desperately not to imagine that the answer had anything to do with a group sex festival. Emily had said it wasn't a weird sex club, but her mind kept going back there because, really, what else were they? They lived together for Christ's sake, and it was wrong because Emily and Katie were sisters, and that was incest, and she was pretty sure that had to be illegal.

She had sat with Pandora, JJ and Thomas for lunch each day, and they had still been quite friendly toward her. But something had closed off in Pandora, who never seemed as excited to see her anymore. Something, too, seemed defeated in JJ and she couldn't help but wonder if they were that desperate for her to be with him, or whether something was going on that she didn't understand. It wasn't like she was the only girl in the entire college, for Christ's sake.

She managed not to slip into any more daydreams or flights of fancy, and the lunches spent with the sun on her face actually bolstered her mood as she counted the days until Friday night. Not that she'd ever been overtly social, of course, since with most people she didn't see the point. But she was burning with questions, and intrigue. Every time she tried to ask Pandora about Emily, or Effy, or any of them, Pandora just looked at her balefully and asked her to change the subject. JJ wasn't much help either, and she never seemed to see Thomas without one of them around.

Until Friday afternoon, that was, when she was surprised to see him standing alone at her bus stop. "Naomi. Can I talk to you?" He asked, and she watched as her bus approached.

"This is my bus, actually…" She started to walk toward it, but he reached out a hand and gently took her own, and the look on his face was so intense that she stopped.

"Please." He said. "It will not take long." She barely nodded, and he gave her a small smile and let her hand go. "Excellent." She crossed her arms over her chest and just looked at him.

"Well?" She said when he didn't start talking, and she watched him gather his thoughts.

"You have been asking many questions. But Pandora, she does not like to answer them. Or JJ." He motioned for her to sit down on the bus stop bench, and after a moment she did. "Pandora, she does not like the people you ask about. They hurt her." He looked at her and she realised he was waiting for a reply.

"What do you mean? Like JJ? They pick on her?" She bit her bottom lip, and grasped her bag tightly on her lap, and wondered what Thomas' point was. Because yes she felt sorry for Pandora and JJ, but if they didn't stand up for themselves then that was their problem. Not that she advocated bullying, but it was just a bit of name calling, wasn't it?

"No, but they did pick her before. Like they have picked you. She was friends with them before I came to this college." He sighed, and looked at the road for a moment. "Something happened, something bad. Enough that she still hurts." He gazed into her eyes suddenly, reached a hand over and gripped her wrist tightly. "They are not good people, Naomi."

She frowned and shook her wrist free. "Seriously, why is everyone being so bloody vague about everything?" She sighed, blew her fringe off her forehead, and looked around her. She watched cars drive past, saw a little boy avoiding shadows as he skipped down the street, trying to stay in the patches of sunshine as his mother laughed behind him.

Thomas was quiet for a moment. "The truth is hard to believe sometimes." He said softly. "Naomi, please call me if you are in trouble." She glanced at him, and he had such an earnest look on his face that she almost laughed. She was relieved when another bus pulled up, and she stood up.

"Alright, well, thanks for the warning and lack of explanation. I have your number so I'll call if I'm in trouble." She adjusted her shoulder strap, and he just nodded at her and looked away. "Fuck's sake." She muttered, getting on the bus and wondering if statistical data on the levels of mental illness had much higher numbers in Bristol.

Her dad seemed nervous when she got home, and when she found out why she wasn't sure how to react.

"I have a date tonight, love." He announced, appearing at her door as she looked in her closet for something to wear. "So I won't be here when you go."

"Oh?" She replied, feeling the slightest bit of jealousy in her stomach, which annoyed her. She'd stopped thinking her parents might get back together when she was eight, and her mum had been on countless dates since they'd moved to London, but she still felt strange and she hated it. "I'll probably stay at Pandora's." She said, suddenly, as he turned to walk away.

"But you'll be home in the morning? I could come and get you if you like?" He rested a hand on her doorframe, and she avoided looking at him.

"No it's alright, I've already got it sorted." She said, and threw a quick smile over her shoulder. Her dad stood there for a moment, before softly walking away, and she sighed and rubbed her hand over her eyes. She didn't want to think about her dad, particularly doing something gross and related to romance, so she focused instead on finding something suitable to wear.

After deliberating for far longer than she was comfortable with, she decided fuck it, and grabbed the closest garments to her because really, she was not the type of girl who worried about what she wore.

Her dad had driven off with a wave at seven, and she'd had to convince him that Pandora lived in the opposite direction of where he was going so he stopped offering her a lift. At quarter to ten she was sitting on the front fence, tapping her foot and feeling ill with nerves. Five minutes later she hurried back into her house and sat in the living room, deciding she didn't want to appear so eager by sitting outside. Ten minutes after that, she worried she wouldn't hear the car horn and paced the hallway that led to the front door until there was a double beep outside that nearly made her shriek.

Fuck, I need to calm down, she thought, and took a deep breath, smoothing out her skirt, and taking her time to open the door.

She was surprised to see Katie in the driver's seat, looking slightly bored, and Emily eagerly waving from the seat behind her. Freddie was in the front, and Cook and Effy were nowhere to be seen.

"Hi!" Emily said happily as Naomi got in the car, and Freddie turned around to give her a smile.

"Hey." He said simply, and she gave them both a small wave. She had barely closed the door before Katie revved the engine dangerously, and took off so suddenly that she fell back against her seat.

"How are you?" Emily asked, reaching over to touch her knee briefly, and Naomi decided that Thomas, Pandora and JJ were actually bonkers because these people were fine. And lovely. And they were just jealous.

"Not bad." She responded, finally managing to put her seat belt on. "How were your days off?" She noticed Katie's eyes looking at her in the rear view mirror, but when she raised her eyebrows Katie looked away.

"Boring." Emily said, and she got the impression that the girl didn't want to talk about it. But sod that.

"What did you do?" Naomi tried to keep the eagerness out of her eyes and voice, and ask the question calmly. Emily avoided her eye for a moment.

"Went camping." Emily licked her lips. "When the weather's nice we get taken camping instead of having to be inside at college." Emily shrugged and Naomi was alarmed that the answer didn't seem to convince her, as she'd hoped, that her sex festival idea was silly. "Anyway, excited for tonight?" Emily asked her, giving her a proper smile.

"Oh well, yeah. Though I can't imagine clubs in Bristol are much competition to London." She wound down her window and closed her eyes as the wind blew her hair back. For the first time in months she felt excited, and free.

"Effy and Cook are sorting us out at the moment, meeting us at the club a bit later." Emily murmured, leaning closer to her, and Katie turned the radio on, making any further conversation impossible.

When they walked into the club, she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit smug as people turned to watch them. Freddie, Katie and Emily seemed oblivious, or used to it, and she decided she wouldn't draw attention to it and kept her eyes focused on the bar.

"Drink?" She yelled to Emily, and Emily shook her head at her.

"I'm going to wait for the drugs!" Emily called back, her voice barely audible over the club music, and Naomi shrugged and went to the bar by herself. She ordered two shots of vodka, and downed them both quickly, feeling light headed but far more relaxed as they hit her stomach.

She found Emily and Katie on the dance floor, and was relieved to see that they weren't dancing with each other. Effy seemed to appear out of nowhere, and gave something to Emily and then nodded her head toward Naomi. Effy then turned and gazed at her, beckoned toward her with a long extended finger, and she felt herself walking toward them as if she didn't have a choice in the matter.

She bopped her head a little to the music, but wasn't drunk or high enough to properly dance yet. She smiled at Effy, and Effy returned it before turning her back and beginning to dance with someone Naomi didn't know. When she looked at Emily, she was met with a fervent look that made her feel slightly alarmed. She watched as Emily got closer to her, and reached a hand up to the back of her neck, before she was pulled until her lips were against Emily's, and she was too shocked to think to pull back.

Jesus, Emily's lips were ridiculously soft. And eager, and she felt as if she was being pulled into the shorter girl, as if she was being consumed.

Her eyes betrayed her completely and shut when Emily's mouth opened, and she went with it, opening her own until she felt Emily's tongue lightly graze hers, and her stomach dropped onto the dance floor somewhere, and she had to pull away. Emily looked at her, and then smirked and raised an eyebrow quickly, and Naomi realised there was a pill in her mouth. Oh, she thought, right, and swallowed. It was just a transference kiss, which, fine. That must happen all the time, she thought, and didn't wonder at the slight disappointment she felt at the thought.

She downed three more shots of vodka over the next hour, and danced until the pill hit her and all of a sudden the music was fucking wonderful and she was flying. Jesus, she'd never felt so happy before in her life, had never been filled with so much love. For everyone, and everything, and the flashing lights made everything around her seem to move in some kind of stop motion. When she saw Freddie with a girl she didn't know, and Effy making out with some random in the corner, she realised the sex club idea was just silly after all, and she started to laugh. Anyway, she thought as her heart expanded, even if they were all shagging, they were still wonderful and amazing people, and when she got to college on Monday she decided it would be her personal mission to reunite them with Pandora, and JJ, and Thomas, and they would all go out every weekend, and take these pills, and dance to this music, and it would be fucking amazing.

She threw her head back, eyes closed, and felt a body move behind her and arms circle her waist. Hands were running over her stomach, and when one moved up and began to palm her tit, her eyes shot open. She felt lips on her neck, and something decidedly male pressing against her arse, and knew somewhere that she should be fighting it, but the music and pill made it feel far too good to pull away.

"Come to the cookie monster." She heard murmured against her ear, as Cook's hand disappeared inside her shirt. She felt his lips kissing a path back to her neck, and moved her head to give him better access. She caught sight of Katie aggressively kissing the neck of a boy she didn't know, and felt herself frown because, for a moment, she'd thought it was Emily. Which, speaking of, where was Emily? The thought seemed to snap something inside her head, and she pushed Cook's hands off her, lent away from the kisses on her neck. Ignored his laughter. As she did so, she caught sight of Emily dancing toward her, and grinned.

She almost fell onto her, gripping Emily's shoulders as she lent heavily against her, pressing her face into her ear. "Hi!" She laughed. "Where've you been?"

Emily gently took Naomi's hands and placed them around her waist, bringing her own up to cup Naomi's face. Naomi blinked as she pulled her head back, staring deeply into Emily's eyes. Fuck, she thought, it's like I'm being hypnotized or something.

Emily didn't say anything, just gave her a small smile and started to sway against her. Emily's hands ran down, lightly over her skin, to the sides of her neck, and then over her collarbone and back again. Naomi felt her eyes close, felt herself swaying with Emily, felt everything else disappearing into the background.

She had images of Emily running through her mind, felt her breathing becoming shallower as she saw flashes of smiles, heated looks, and the freckle on her cheek. She bit her lip, didn't notice that Emily had gently tilted her head to the side and was nuzzling her neck. All she saw was Emily at college, seated next to her in politics, but they weren't paying attention to Keiran, no, Emily's hand was on her leg and moving up her thigh, and Emily was smiling at her deviously, and she was desperate for Emily's hand to be between her legs, more desperate than she'd ever been for anything in her whole life. Then they were outside and she was lying down on a jumping castle, and Emily was lying on top of her, and she had her hands under Emily's jumper, rubbing the soft skin of her back, and they were making out like no one's business. Again the scene shifted, and she was in the girl's bathroom. Emily walked in like she had before, but she turned Naomi and pushed her against the sink, and they didn't speak to one another, instead pressed their mouths together ridiculously hard, and when Emily put her hand up her skirt, she didn't protest or pull away, but panted and moaned as Emily fucked her.

Jesus, she thought, and opened her eyes. She was completely disoriented to find herself standing on the dance floor in the club, Emily's lips against her neck, wondering where the bloody hell her mind had just gone. She watched as Emily pulled back from her, her mouth and eyes closed, and stood completely still. Naomi reached a tentative hand up to her neck, felt the slightest of raised bumps, and only let herself worry for a moment what she'd tell her dad. Fuck it, that's what foundation was for, right?

The pill was still kicking strongly through her, had to have been since Emily was, well, a girl and they'd just… but what had they done? Emily had given her a hickey, and all that other stuff had been in her head. Which, she decided, was easily excused by there being some kind of hallucinogenic component in the pill. She nodded, blew out a breath, and started to dance again, losing herself in the music.

Emily stood in front of her, and after a moment began to dance too, opening her eyes and looking at Naomi with a small grin. She reached quickly for Naomi's head, and for a brief second Naomi thought she was going to be kissed, but Emily just pressed her mouth to her ear and coarsely said, "This shit is amazing." before pulling back with the giggles.

This time when they danced, they didn't touch as much as they had been, and Effy danced over to them after a while, grabbing Emily's hands as they laughed at each other, and then danced with her arms spread out either side of her and her face tilted toward the flashing lights on the ceiling. Freddie joined them a bit later, and Naomi realised she hadn't thought him capable of smiling so big. Cook jumped onto his back, and they laughed at each other as Freddie threw him off and then hugged him energetically. Katie and Effy were dancing awfully close to each other, watching the boys and laughing, and Emily danced across from her, smiling and catching her eye every so often. She realised she was laughing, too, and having the time of her life.

V^^^^^V

It was three am when she started to come down, excused herself and exited the club, leaning against a wall and gasping in the fresh air. What a night, she thought. She had been dancing for four hours, and remembered the hickey after a moment, and shook her head because, really. But she'd had a ridiculous amount of fun, and the pills Effy and Cook had gotten were unbelievably amazing. Not that she'd had that much experience with them before. She'd taken them a few times in London, though the effects had been a poor imitation of this one.

A cold wind made her shiver, and wrap her arms around herself, wishing she'd brought a jacket with her. She yawned after a moment, and realised the thought of bed was becoming rather tempting.

She looked up the street the club was on, saw a group of laughing people on the other side of the road, and a bloke vomiting at a bus shelter, and wondered if she could get a cab if the others didn't want to leave yet.

"You alright?" Emily was walking toward her, and Naomi plastered a smile on her face.

"Yeah, fine. Just needed some air." She shivered, couldn't stop herself, and Emily looked concerned.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Emily reached out a hand, lightly touched her arm, and she flinched as her mind shot back to the dance floor, and what had gone through her mind.

"It's alright." Naomi said, trying to smile apologetically and failing. Emily didn't seem to take offense, crossed her arms over herself and looked out into the night at the group of people Naomi had been watching.

"I'm a bit over it, actually, and you know, Katie and Freddie can leave with Effy and Cook. I can take you home, Naomi." Emily just looked at her, waiting patiently, and after a moment Naomi yawned.

"Well, alright." She muttered, and ignored Emily's smirk as they turned and began walking toward where Katie had parked. As Emily pulled a set of keys out of her pocket, and opened the door, Naomi's eyebrow raised.

"Confident I'd want to go?" She asked, nodding at the keys when Emily frowned slightly at her.

"Oh, no we all have copies of the car keys." Emily said simply, getting into the driver's seat and starting the engine. She blinked, and then got into the car.

They drove silently toward Naomi's house, and she tried to stop frowning, but couldn't. Because, really. Matching car keys?

"Okay…" She started, but Emily had started talking at the same time.

"I know it's weird." Emily glanced at her, and Naomi stayed silent. "But it's not as weird as you think." Emily kept her gaze on the road, and Naomi turned to look at her.

"It seems very weird, actually." She bit her lip. "I can't decide if you're all shagging or religious or, I don't even know!" She threw her hands up, snorted when she heard Emily chuckling. "It's just bloody weird, Emily."

Emily nodded, parked the car outside of Naomi's, and she was alarmed for a moment that her dad's car was no where to be seen. She barely refrained from pulling a face, she didn't want to imagine her dad was actually out getting laid.

"I promise I'll explain it to you, alright?" Emily said, looking at her and smiling softly. Naomi rolled her eyes, but returned the smile. After a moment, she bit her lip, wondering if Emily was expecting to be asked inside, and took her time to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Do you, uh, want a cup of tea or something?" She asked, opening her car door so she wouldn't have to look at Emily' face, and inwardly cringing because she felt like she'd just propositioned her. "Friendship tea." She turned quickly to look at Emily, and then wanted to slap herself because, seriously. Friendship tea?

"No thanks, on the tea front." Emily replied, smiling way too much for Naomi's liking. "But I might come in for a bit, if that's alright?"

Of course it was, but she didn't want to think about the reason why. She led Emily through her house, and up to her bedroom. She kicked her shoes off, and after an awkward moment of standing at the foot of her bed, and a yawn, she lay down.

"Christ, I'm tired." She mumbled, as Emily gently took her own shoes off and sat down next to Naomi. Emily was looking around her room, an unreadable look on her face.

"It's been a long night." Emily said softly, and Naomi nodded, rolled over onto her back and stared at her ceiling.

"So what is the deal, then?" She asked, and she felt the bed dip slightly as Emily gingerly lay down next to her.

"It's actually a long, complicated story. But I suppose you could say we're orphans, and that's why we live together." Emily's voice was soft, and Naomi shut her eyes briefly, loving the sound of it.

"Hang on." She said, opening her eyes after a moment, and got off the bed to turn her light off before lying back down.

She heard Emily chuckle lightly beside her. "Cute." She said, pointing to the ceiling, and Naomi scoffed.

"Yeah well, I was five." Naomi felt herself grinning. "So you don't know your parents?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Not anymore, no." Emily responded after a little while, and Naomi felt more questions at the back of her throat, since Emily's explanation was more mystifying than satisfying. "Do you like lying under the stars, even if they're fake?" Emily asked softly, her voice in the dark filling the entire room.

"I do." She yawned, and turned her head to look at Emily, who gazed back at her, lying almost uncomfortably close.

"I'll take you camping then, one day. The spot we go to sometimes has the most incredible view of the stars." Emily smiled at her almost shyly, and Naomi felt her eyelids drooping against her will.

"Don't think I've finished asking questions." She mumbled, after a moment, her eyes closing and her breathing starting to even out. She felt something wet gently rubbing against her throat, and cracked her eyes open to catch the smallest glimpse of Emily reaching over toward her. She would've snorted if she'd had the energy, wanting to point out that saliva on a thumb was no match for what she was sure was a monster hickey. It was far too much effort to talk, though. To do anything, really, other than appreciate the comfort of her bed, the darkness, and how still everything seemed to be. Just as she fell asleep, to dream of red hair and soft caresses, she felt a small, cool hand take her own and thread their fingers together.

V^^^^^V


	3. The Youth Is Starting To Change

She cracked an eye open somewhere near midday, was groaning before she was properly awake. All she could think was 'Fuck.' over and over again, like her brain was a record she'd broken the night before, and she couldn't find the off button. Sunlight was glaring through the window directly onto her face, and she wondered if she was getting old because surely she hadn't drunk that much the night before, surely not enough to warrant a hangover of this magnitude.

Dimly she was aware of being surrounded by warmth, and kicked her legs a little. Her quilt was wrapped around her, effectively making her a hot dog, which made her frown as she blearily rubbed her eyes. Hadn't she fallen asleep on top of her quilt? She felt her shirt with one hand, the sun too bright to open her eyes again, felt the patterned front. Great. She had fallen asleep in the clothes she'd worn the night before. Was that where the terrible smell was coming from? Cigarettes, sweat, alcohol and something she wasn't sure she wanted to identify made her want to cut her own nose off. She threw her quilt off, snuggled into a patch of shadow on her bed the sunshine hadn't yet reached, far from the window, and finally managed to open her eyes.

That was a mistake. She kept them shut until she heard tapping on her door, insistent.

"Naomi, love? Are you home?" Of course. Her dad. Right. Had meant to be studying the night before, now looked and smelt like a whore house had violently vomited on a brewery. Probably. Fuck.

She heard him walk away after a moment, and cracked her eyes open again. What a fucking night. She remembered dancing, and shots of vodka. She rubbed her eyes and then paused as a flash of Emily kissing her went through her mind without warning. She bit her lip, remembered soft lips and… shook her head. That had just been to give her the pill.

Fuck, she had to get out of her clothes though. She stood up and immediately sat back down on her bed. She felt like death warmed up. Christ.

She managed, after two more attempts, to stand properly. Looking in her wardrobe mirror had probably not been the best idea she'd ever had, noticing puffy blood shot eyes and lipstick smeared around her mouth. As she wiped at it half heartedly, she remembered the kiss again, and shook her head at herself because it hadn't been a kiss. It was just what friends did to share pills. Or, just what these friends apparently did. And fine.

She turned away from the mirror and tugged her skirt off, kicking it into the corner. She pulled her shirt up, and as she lifted it over her head, she lost her balance and fell against her wardrobe door with a loud bang.

"Is that you, Naomi?" She heard foot steps walking up the stairs, and hurriedly threw her shirt off. She reached into her wardrobe for an oversized t-shirt, pulled it over her head and stopped when she caught sight of herself again. She stared at her neck, had to reach up and rub the spot where Emily had given her a hickey, only… Only there wasn't a mark on her throat. The little raised bumps she swore she'd felt the night before were gone, her skin was smooth and unblemished, and she frowned at it for a moment. It had happened, hadn't it? She remembered the feel of the shorter girl pressing against her, and the eagerness with which she'd latched onto her neck. Which just had to be the drugs, right? After all, she'd let Cook have a good go of it as well. She blew out a breath, managing to pull her shirt on properly as her dad opened her door and poked his head inside.

"Morning sweetheart, or should I say, afternoon!" He smiled at her, and she kept her eyes as open and alert looking as possible, holding herself steady against her wardrobe door.

"Hi dad." Her voice croaked, and she cleared her throat self consciously.

Her dad frowned, peered at her. "I didn't know you were home. Late night last night?"

She smiled at him, ignoring the feeling of her brain being placed in a cake beater set to high. "Oh yeah, we were up studying till all hours of the morning. And then Panda had to go to church really early, so I got a lift back and thought I'd have a snooze." She blinked, watched him process the information and seem to agree with it, let herself marvel for just a moment at how easy it was to lie.

"Well then, fancy some lunch?" He looked at his watch. "Your mother called again this morning, too. Maybe you should give her a call back?" He raised his eyebrows at her, and she rolled her eyes, though for a moment it made her dangerously light headed to do so.

"Okay. Look, I'll be down in a bit, alright?" She watched him nod and throw her one last smile before closing her door, and she stumbled back to her bed, lay down and heaved a sigh of relief, and tried to gather the will to leave her bedroom.

Of course her mind went back to the previous night's events, what had gone through her head when Emily was, well, doing whatever she'd been doing to her neck. She'd never had thoughts about girls like that before, or guys, or anyone really, so it was alarming on every front. Particularly since she hadn't had them about Cook, particularly since she'd felt disappointed when Emily had finally pulled away. Particularly since, secretly, she'd enjoyed it. But it was obviously because the pills were amazing, and she couldn't help but wonder where Cook and Effy had got them from.

She felt something under her neck, and reached behind it to find a piece of crinkled paper. She smoothed it out to find a swirling cursive, surprisingly elegant. When she read the delicate writing, she found herself smiling, small and private, and held the note to her chest.

'Emily lay here'

V^^^^^V

She spoke to her mother on Saturday afternoon for all of five minutes, made non-committal 'Mmhmm'ing noises to a variety of questions designed, she thought, to alleviate her mother's guilt. She was far too hung over to even contemplate mollifying the woman and hadn't felt the slightest bit guilty until she'd started to feel normal again, having swallowed almost two litres of orange juice and eaten her dad out of house and home. She'd never been hungrier in her life, and wondered if she was having a growth spurt of some kind.

Her dad spent the weekend making her food, and gently trying to talk to her about his date on Friday, but she avoided it as best as she could. On Sunday she still felt like shit, though not nearly as bad as the day before, and she couldn't for a second bring herself to want to hear about her dad and some woman called Veronica, let alone care about actually meeting the woman.

On Sunday afternoon she convinced herself to attempt to finish some coursework, and reclined on her bed staring moodily at her philosophy textbook until a strange buzzing noise pulled her out of her thoughts. She fished her phone out from under her bed, raising an eyebrow at the ten or so text messages she had.

The first five were from Pandora asking how she was, inviting her out shopping or to the movies, the final text apologising for bugging her and that she'd see her at college on Monday. Well, she thought, it's not like she was ignoring her. She texted back a quick message, telling Pandora she'd lost her phone and hoping she'd had a good weekend anyway.

She rolled her eyes at Thomas' text, which basically reiterated what he'd told her Friday afternoon. It was sweet in a way, she thought, that he was offering to protect her even though he'd just met her. But it was also annoying that he wouldn't tell her what he thought he was protecting her from, and she didn't bother texting him back.

JJ had texted inviting her to his birthday party the next weekend, and she bit her lip and hesitated in replying, deciding that if Emily and her friends weren't going then she didn't really want to say yes. Which was awfully immature, she knew that much, but she'd also known the boy a week so it wasn't like they were best mates or anything. And it certainly didn't look like he'd be handing Katie an invitation willingly.

She felt a slight squeezing in her chest as she saw the remaining three texts were from Emily. She rolled over onto her stomach, feeling stupidly giggly as she opened the first message. What was she, twelve?

It was a short message thanking her for coming out with them and hoping she felt alright the next morning. She blinked. Emily was lovely. Properly lovely. What was Pandora's problem? She opened the second, laughing as Emily sent her a list of reasons why communal living wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, the last being that she hadn't had a moment to herself in what felt like weeks, and she was pretty sure she was going to kill her sister any day now. The final message was a simple 'P.S. Not a sex cult, pervert.' She rolled over, debated what she would text back. She settled on 'I'll believe it when I find out otherwise, sicko.' And smiled to herself because, for the first time in longer than she was comfortable remembering, it seemed she had a friend.

V^^^^^V

Naomi walked into college on Monday morning feeling stupidly nervous. She didn't let it show, though, did her best to keep her head held high as she walked toward her philosophy class room. Not because Emily would be there and it would be the first time she'd seen her since Friday night and the, well, whatever with the kissing and the neck business. Nor because she'd blown off JJ and Pandora to hang out with their, like, arch nemeses or whatever.

Fuck, she thought. This was why friendship was retarded. Too much fucking drama.

She walked into the classroom, taking a deep breath, and flinched as someone yelled out to her.

"Naomi! Party girl!" Cook pushed himself out of his chair, and wound his way around the desks until he reached her. She felt her face heat up with embarrassment as he grabbed her and lifted her, laughing. "Where were you Saturday then, princess?" He put her down, and she just looked at him for a moment.

"Saturday?" She managed to get out, looking around the room quickly and realising that everyone was looking at them. JJ frowned when she met his eye, and Pandora looked miserable.

"Cook!" Emily called out. "Get your arse back here and leave her alone."

Cook winked at her. "Later, darlin'." He made his way to Emily, and she followed him until she got to Pandora, and sat down. She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, and opened it to see a text from Emily that just said 'Sorry.' She turned around in her seat, and gave Emily a small smile. Emily made a show of rolling her eyes at Cook and shrugging, and Naomi raised her eyebrows. She turned back to look at Pandora, noticed the girl keeping her eyes firmly focused on the desk.

"Hi Panda." She said gently, and Pandora's eyes shot up to meet hers.

"Hi." Pandora mumbled, trying to smile but her eyes were wide and she couldn't seem to make it stick. "Good weekend?"

Naomi nodded slowly, and blinked. "Yeah, alright. Quiet. You know." She started unpacking her bag. "Yours?"

Pandora shrugged. "Well JJ and Thomas came to mine and it was wicked cos mum made chocolate biscuits and we played Cluedo till almost eleven…" Pandora stopped talking as a bit of paper hit her in the back of the head, and her face flushed.

"Oi weird girl, sounds like a cracker of a night!"

Naomi turned around quickly, saw Cook leaning forward on his desk and grinning. Emily had her arms crossed beside him, and gave Naomi an apologetic look.

Pandora froze, and Naomi frowned and reached out to touch her arm.

"Come on then, what happened next? Gay-jay give you a good going while Thomas stuck it up your mum?" Cook started laughing, gleeful, as Pandora whipped around in her chair and glared at him.

"Don't you be talking about my mum!" Pandora turned back around, and Naomi could see that everyone in the classroom was looking at them. She saw JJ stand up across the room.

"Leave her alone, Cook." He stammered, and Cook turned a devilish grin toward him.

"Or what?" Cook stood up in his chair, spread his arms out. "You going to have a go then, Jay?" He narrowed his eyes at JJ, still grinning, and Naomi watched as JJ blinked and looked around him, finding no support.

Naomi looked at Emily, frowning when she saw that Emily was sitting with her arms crossed and looking out the window, ignoring what was happening.

"Sit down, please Jay." Pandora said desperately, and JJ glanced at her, shaken. Naomi felt a sudden rush of righteous indignation, and was about to stand and tell Cook to sit down and everyone to bloody grow up since this wasn't primary school, when the classroom door flew open and Miss Clark rushed in, shaking an umbrella and puffed in the face.

"Jesus fuck this weather. Sorry I'm late. Get your books out, we've missed enough as it is." Miss Clark hurried to the front of the class, throwing her umbrella near her desk and shrugging off a rain coat before noticing JJ and Cook still standing. "Yes, what is it?"

JJ sat down quickly, turning away from Cook and keeping his head down. Cook didn't sit, winking at Miss Clark.

"Nothing, Miss, just having a laugh with my peers, wasn't I?" Cook laughed, and Emily finally turned toward him, put a hand gently on his arm, and he looked down at her. After a moment his face softened, and he sat down.

Naomi reached over and squeezed Pandora's hand. Pandora gave her a grateful smile, and the rest of the lesson was lost to Miss Clark ranting at them about things Naomi couldn't follow.

V^^^^^V

She felt eyes on her when she walked into the cafeteria, wincing as she realised that since the weather was shit, everyone was stuck inside and it was painfully obvious that she would have to choose who she sat with. Pandora and JJ each gave her small waves from a table off to her right, and she gave them a strained smile before looking around.

Katie was laughing at Cook, who was enthusiastically telling a story to her and Freddie at the back of the room. Freddie was shaking his head, a slight grin on his face, and Emily was sitting next to her sister staring at the rain splattered windows. Naomi bit her lip, willing Emily to notice her, but Emily seemed completely lost in thought.

"We won't be offended if you don't sit with us." She heard said behind her, the voice low and amused and she turned to see Effy gazing at her.

"What?" She said, trying not to flinch as Effy leaned in closer.

"But they will." Effy gave her a half smile, nodded in the direction of Pandora, Thomas and JJ, and then shrugged. "Up to you."

Effy sauntered away from her, throwing a smirk over her shoulder before she reached her friends, sitting down between Katie and Emily and putting an arm leisurely around both of them.

She sighed and walked over to Pandora, Thomas and JJ, and sat down.

"Hi." She said, willing herself not to look at Emily, and took her lunch out of her bag.

Pandora gave her a big smile. "I brought some of mums biscuits for you Nai, they're tippity flibbing boo!" She excitedly brought them out, presenting them to her as if they were a reward for choosing to sit with them.

Thomas leaned toward her with a kind smile. "Your weekend, it was nice?" He asked, and tilted his head waiting for an answer.

She nodded, ignored that she felt guilty. Hated that she felt it, was sick of feeling it.

"My weekend was exhilarating, actually, on account of dad taking me camping on Saturday night because, he says, it's a crucial part of growing up and becoming a man to be, well, able to exist in nature away from society and it was an awfully good bonding experience…" JJ animatedly kept talking, and Naomi tuned him out as she glanced at Emily, even though she'd told herself not to. Emily was gazing at her, her face expressionless, and Naomi hated that she blushed and looked away. Wanted to kick herself for it because, really.

Her phone buzzed after a moment, and she opened a text that just said 'How are you?'. She sighed, her eyes softening as she looked at it, responding with 'Listening to JJ ramble and wanting to kill myself, otherwise good. You?' She tried desperately not to look at her phone every two seconds to check for a response, and nodded at JJ as if she was paying attention to everything he said.

'Listening to Cook show off and wanting to kill him. Would much prefer to be sitting with you.' She blinked at the message, trying to hide a smile. Pandora nudged her, and she almost dropped her phone.

"Biscuit? They're whizzer!" Pandora handed her one, and grinned as she took a gigantic bite of her own. Pandora turned back to JJ, and Naomi debated what she'd respond with. After a moment, she typed 'Me too.' and pressed send before she changed her mind about admitting something like that.

As they grabbed their bags to head off to the next classes, JJ nervously grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"Naomi I was just wondering if you'd received my text about my birthday party for next weekend, and if you'd like to come, and if not well I'm having a bowling party and I would very much appreciate if you came." JJ took a deep breath, and had the most ridiculously hopeful expression on his face.

Shit. She couldn't say no to his face, especially not after this morning.

"Sure, JJ." She scratched her nose, and he gave her a relieved grin that made her actually feel good about herself.

Emily was smiling at her when she sat down in politics, reached over to give her hand a squeeze and then just held it until Naomi, worried that someone would see them, gently pulled her hand away. She made a show of unpacking her bag to cover it up.

"So." She said, tapping a pen against the desk.

"Did you have fun Friday night?" Emily asked her, turning in her seat to face her.

"Wickedly, actually. But Christ I was hung over. I thought I'd been hit by a bus on Saturday." She raised an eyebrow as Emily licked her lips, and gave her a guilty look.

"You recovered okay, though?" Emily reached forward and gazed into her eyes, expressing such concern that Naomi felt a little overwhelmed.

"Yeah, fine." She blinked. "What time did you leave Saturday morning? Sorry I just crashed. Wasn't much good for company, was I?" She shrugged, relieved when Emily leaned backwards.

"Not too long after you fell asleep. Don't even worry..."

"Ladies, sorry to interrupt your chit chat but would it be alright if you paid attention to me so I could, oh I don't know, teach you enough so when you're released into the wild you're not completely ignorant?" Kieran was looking at them pointedly, his arms folded over his chest, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Sorry." She said, and Emily turned so she was facing the front again.

"Apologies, sir." Emily smirked, and Keiran sighed and started talking again. Naomi did her best to concentrate on what he was saying, until she nearly jumped out of her skin as Emily rested a hand on her knee under the desk.

She felt her heart beating hard inside her chest, leant forward to make sure Emily's action wasn't visible to anyone else, and barely managed to stop herself from closing her eyes as Emily gently rubbed a thumb against the top of her knee. She glanced at Emily, but Emily had a small frown of concentration on her face as if she was enraptured by what Keiran was saying. Naomi held her breath, willed her heartbeat to sort itself the fuck out. Emily couldn't know that this exact scenario had gone through her head at the club. But unlike then, she wasn't desperate for Emily's hand between her legs because, for starters, they were in class for Christ's sake and also, also, it was just too much. Far too much to even contemplate it with a sober mind, and in bloody daylight. But Emily didn't push, didn't move her hand further up her leg at all. She just kept it there as if reminding Naomi of something that Naomi didn't want to think about.

V^^^^^V

"Fancy a lift home?" Emily tilted her head, a soft smile on her face as Naomi packed her bag. Her heart was still hammering in her chest even though Emily had taken her hand off her knee halfway through the class.

"That would be, uh, nice." She turned toward Emily, gave her a half smile. As she followed Emily out of the classroom, she noticed Effy, Katie, Cook and Freddie hanging back. Cook and Freddie were deep in conversation by themselves, and Effy offered her a wave as she passed them.

"Bye." Effy said to her.

"Bye Effy." Naomi looked at Katie, who was staring at her with an unreadable expression on her face. "Bye Katie." She smiled at Katie, feeling awkward when Katie didn't return it.

Katie narrowed her eyes at Naomi, and shrugged. "Whatever." She said, and then turned to Effy, completely dismissing her.

"Okay." She said to herself, following Emily out of the college and to the parking lot. "I don't think your sister likes me."

Emily slowed down, raised her eyebrow at Naomi and was quiet for a moment.

"Don't take it personally or anything. She's like that with everyone at first." Emily shrugged, turned her face away from Naomi and didn't say another word until they reached yet another car Naomi had never seen before.

"How many cars do you have?" Naomi watched as Emily unlocked it with a smirk, and they both got in.

"A few. But then, there's a lot of us so, you know. Lots of cars." Emily started the engine, and Naomi frowned at her.

"Hang on, what do you mean a lot of you?" Naomi rolled her eyes as Emily raised her eyebrows at her until she'd clicked her seatbelt in place. "How many people do you live with?"

"Well," Emily started, weaving the car through traffic and driving a little faster than Naomi was comfortable with. "There's the five of us, plus Tony and Sid, Cassie, Chris and Michelle." Emily kept her eyes on the road, but was smirking as Naomi's jaw dropped beside her.

"And the, ten of you? Live together for what reason again?" Naomi was starting to become annoyed at the lack of explanation, wondered what was so special that Emily couldn't just up and tell her. Like, 'We're all foster kids of a handsome young barren couple with millions of pounds to spare.' or 'We're a teenage gang above the law who take pride in academic achievement.'

Emily glanced at her. "Because it's lonely by yourself." Naomi was frowning the rest of the way to her house, unable to get much more out of Emily on the subject, and vaguely clueless as to where to even start asking questions because, really.

"Do you want to come in for tea?" Naomi asked her as they pulled up to her house, and Emily smirked at her.

"Friendship tea?" Emily was unbuckling her seatbelt. "Only that I'm allergic to any other kind."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Very funny." She led Emily through to the kitchen, hearing her dad call out from upstairs.

"Alright, we have English breakfast, camomile, gypsy caravan…" Naomi went through the varieties of boxes of tea until she felt Emily come up behind her, and reach her arms around her waist. Emily lay her head between Naomi's shoulder blades, and Naomi felt her breath catch.

"I don't actually want tea." Emily mumbled against her back, and Naomi felt her eyes slip shut as Emily ran her fingers over Naomi's stomach, the thin fabric of her shirt a weak barrier between Emily's skin and her own.

Naomi's eyes shot open as she heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and turned her body out of Emily's grasp, leaning against the sink and struggling to control her breathing as her dad walked into the kitchen. He gave Emily a surprised but open smile, and raised his eyebrows at Naomi in question.

"Right, Dad. This is Emily. Friend from college. Emily, Dad." Naomi gestured vaguely between them, still leaning against the sink and forcing herself not to blush too much.

Emily smiled at her dad, walked forward with her hand outstretched and shook his warmly.

"Nice to meet you, Mr Campbell."

Naomi watched as her dad smiled delightedly at Emily.

"And you Emily. Make yourself at home. Naomi, have you offered your guest some tea?" Her dad gave her a pointed look as he moved to get some mugs down from the cupboard near the sink, and Naomi rolled her eyes and pushed herself away from it.

"Yes Dad, I'm not completely socially inept." Naomi avoided looking at Emily, couldn't look at her. "We don't want tea anyway, we're going to do coursework in my room." She walked past Emily, roughly grabbed her hand, and pulled until Emily was following her up the stairs and into her bedroom.

She let go of Emily's hand and shut her bedroom door, watching warily as Emily sat down on the edge of her bed and then just looked at her unexpectedly.

"You're gay." She said, and for a moment wanted to clamp her hands over her mouth because she hadn't meant to say that. Or well, not so bluntly.

Emily seemed amused. "Yes, I am." She said, and gazed at her until Naomi had to look away, and bit her lip.

"Right. Well. I'm not." She said, and took a deep breath, feeling more uncomfortable than she possibly ever had. The visions, or whatever they were, were one thing but the reality of it was starting to make her panic.

Emily looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, stood up from the bed and walked towards her. She grabbed one of Naomi's hands, and held it between her own until Naomi looked at her slightly fearfully.

"It's okay." Emily said and gave her a reassuring smile.

"I don't know what you want from me." Naomi's voice was low and she couldn't bring herself to pull her hand away from Emily's grasp.

"Friendship, Naomi. That's all." Emily gave her a hand a squeeze. Naomi sighed, and nodded, and as they unpacked their text books because, well, there wasn't anything else to do, Naomi found that somewhere inside of her, deep down, she was relieved that she didn't believe it for a second.

V^^^^^V

Cook approached her on Friday as she finished eating with Pandora, JJ and Thomas, and she watched as JJ had shrunk into his seat with a fearful glance behind her.

"Naomi!" Cook bellowed, grabbing a chair and pulling it up to their table. Pandora physically recoiled, and Thomas stood up as if prepared for a fight.

"What do you want?" Thomas asked, eyes narrowed, and Cook laughed at him.

"Settle down big man, I'm talking to my girl Naomi." Cook put his arm over the back of her chair, and she was alarmed for a moment at the sense of propriety that went with the act.

"She's not yours, Cook." JJ said quietly, and Naomi looked at him. "Not that she would belong to anybody is what I mean, not that of course I'd suggest she belong to me." JJ looked alarmed at himself for a moment. "Or Thomas for that matter." He stammered, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

"You'd like that though wouldn't you, Gay-Jay?" Cook leant toward him, eyes narrowed, a cruel smile on his face. JJ flushed bright red, and Naomi put a hand on Cook's arm.

"Fuck's sake, the lot of you. I'm not bloody property." Naomi frowned, took her hand off Cook's arm, and Thomas sat down, leaning forward on his chair as if ready to jump back up at any moment.

"Course not, princess." Cook winked at her. "Listen, me and the gang want you to come out with us again tonight, yeah?" He grinned at her, and felt herself blush as Pandora and JJ looked at her in shock.

"When have you gone out with them before, Nai?" Pandora asked, shocked. It seemed to Naomi that she was purposefully avoiding looking at Cook, and had shifted her chair away from him.

"Last Friday." She replied, sighing and wishing she could be anywhere else.

"Right, well, she's with us tonight Cook so back off." JJ blinked rapidly at Cook, his hands balling into fists. "I won't let you do what you did…" He trailed off as Katie pulled a chair up on her other side, next to JJ.

"And what is it I did, big man?" Cook's voice lowered dangerously, and Naomi looked between them confused and wondering if she'd been dropped into an episode of The O.C.

JJ opened his mouth, glanced quickly at Katie, who smirked at him, and then shut his mouth. "Nothing." He mumbled, leaning back in his chair as if defeated.

"Exactly, freak." Katie said to him, and then turned to Naomi and seemed to size her up. "Right, babes. We're picking you up tonight at ten, yeah? And try to look half decent, we're going somewhere fancier than last time."

Naomi felt like she'd been bombarded, and threw her hands up. "At this point I'm bloody staying home." She saw JJ's face fall, and sighed. "Look, Katie. Cook. I agreed to go to JJ's birthday thing tonight, alright?" She bit her lip. "Sorry." She said before she could stop herself, because she was. Last week had been fun, and eating lunch everyday with Pandora, Thomas and JJ was well enough, except for the constant moping and bloody meekness they exuded whenever her other friends, because that's what Emily and all them were, talked to her.

Cook stopped grinning, leant back in his chair and looked back toward, Naomi assumed, Effy, Emily and Freddie.

Katie snickered. "You'd rather go bowling? Fuck's sake." She crossed her arms, and Naomi wanted them to leave, wanted this odd fucking showdown to end.

"I don't know how you know what my birthday plans include, but I'll have you know that bowling is an admirable venture based on precision, angles and…" JJ was cut off again, looking like he wanted to put his hands over his mouth and stop himself talking, because every time Katie and Cook took it as bait.

Katie squealed laughing, and Cook sniggered.

"That so, mate?" Cook looked thoughtful, a cheeky smile starting to spread over his face, and Katie raised her eyebrow at him. Something passed between them, and Naomi had an awful feeling that she knew what it was.

"I'm not your mate." JJ's voice cracked halfway through, and Naomi felt sorry for him for just a moment.

"Please leave this table now." Thomas said, his eyes never leaving Cook.

Naomi watched as Cook tilted his head to the side, licked his lips, and leant toward Thomas.

"What you think you're going to do, exactly?" Cook stood up, resting his hands on the table and leaning past Pandora to glare at Thomas.

"Cook." Katie said, and Naomi wasn't sure if was trying to dissuade or encourage him. "Come on, let's leave these losers to their 'bowling'." She made quotation marks, and adjusted her skirt. She turned to Naomi as she stood. "Call us if you get bored hanging with fucking children, yeah?"

Cook snorted after a moment, and pursed his lips into a kiss at Thomas. Thomas was sitting deathly still, staring intently back at Cook until Cook turned away. He gave Naomi a quick, unexpected kiss on the cheek.

"Come back to us soon, yeah? Ems and I got plans for you." He winked at her as he leant back, and she gave him a strained smile, aware that JJ and Pandora were watching her intently.

Katie flicked Cook in the chest as they walked away, and he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, ignoring her shouts, both of them laughing as they went back to their table.

Naomi turned in her chair, saw Emily shaking her head and laughing as Cook dumped Katie on top of the table. Their eyes met for a moment, and Naomi turned around, had a sudden feeling that she was about to be put on trial.

Instead, she saw concern on the three faces before her instead of the hurt she'd anticipated.

"We've got to tell her, Thomas." Pandora gave him a grateful smile as he took her hand. JJ was nodding.

"Tonight then." He smiled at Pandora, turned to Naomi and she watched his expression harden. "When they cannot hear us."

"Right." She said, picking her bag up and standing. "Well if you'll excuse me, I need some bloody alone time because this is getting ridiculous." She pushed her chair back into the table harder than she intended. "See you tonight." She sighed, and walked away from them, from the cafeteria, and stalked into the girls' bathrooms.

She walked into a cubicle, locked the door behind her, and sat on top of the toilet seat lid. She fished her ipod out of her bag, put the volume as loud as it would go, and blasted music into her ears.

She'd watched, when she was younger, as her friends around her squabbled over meaningless crap, and she'd never wanted any of it. It wasn't even like Cook or JJ knew her that well, and she wondered if it was a boy thing to constantly be in a pissing contest over her. Though it didn't explain Pandora, or Emily.

The thought of Emily made her smile. She thought back to the last few afternoons. Emily had driven her home after school each day, and they talked and laughed in her room until dinner time, Emily never staying to eat with them. They'd done all the things that Naomi had imagined friends did, and scoffed at. But actually being part of it was different. Emily had recited her favourite poem to her one afternoon, for instance, off by heart as they lay side by side on the floor, and Naomi hadn't laughed at her, had been too caught up in the sound of Emily's voice. And that was the thing about Emily, she could listen to her for hours and not notice time passing, hadn't noticed time passing, each afternoon seeming to become shorter and shorter.

Emily hadn't pushed the physical contact since she'd told her that she wasn't gay. Which was the truth, she thought. She wasn't gay. Wasn't anything, really. Had always found the thought of love, and romance, and bloody poetry, completely unappealing. She didn't like Emily because she was a girl, she just liked spending time with her. She blew out a breath. If she could just spend time with Emily, without Cook and JJ, Pandora, or any of them, everything would be easier. She would be happier.

She jumped as the bathroom door swung open, her hand flying to her chest as she let out a small shriek. Emily peered into the stall, mouthing something at her and giggling. She wrenched her earphones out of her ears.

"What the fuck?" She said, breathing heavily. "You scared the shit out of me!"

Emily was laughing, and pointing at her. "Your face!" She rasped, and bent over for a moment shaking with laughter.

Naomi stood, trying to keep a smile off her face. She shoved Emily, walking past her. "You fucking bitch." She said, but there wasn't any real anger in her voice.

Emily stumbled toward her, reaching out and grabbing onto her arm for support. "Class just started, I came to get you and…" Emily started laughing again. She sobered after a moment, snorting at Naomi's frown. "Fuck that was funny." Emily grinned at her, and Naomi rolled her eyes. "What were you doing listening to music that bloody loudly on the toilet, anyway?"

Naomi stopped frowning, and pulled a face as they started walking toward their classroom. "Jesus, don't get me started. Cook and JJ had some sort of, like, I don't know, big dick contest over where I'm going tonight, and I just was sick of being around people." She glanced at Emily, watching her process the information.

"Oh, yeah, Cook told us you were going to some birthday thing tonight." Emily shrugged. "It doesn't phase me where you spend your Friday nights." Naomi gave her a half smile, and Emily gave her a cheeky one in reply. "As long as some of them are with me."

"I'd prefer to spend all of them with just you." Naomi said, and froze because she hadn't meant to say that out loud. Fuck. But Emily just smirked at her as they reached their classroom.

She grabbed Emily's hand quickly before they went in.

"Emily, listen. Can you make sure Cook and Katie don't crash JJ's thing tonight?" She bit her lip, still holding Emily's hand.

"Why would they do that?" Emily asked, a small frown on her face.

"I don't know, and they might not. But I just think they might be planning to, that's all. And could you just make sure they won't?" She looked at Emily, and Emily finally nodded, squeezing her hand.

She was expecting Cook to harp at her about ditching JJ's party, but he was quiet, and only offered her a small wave as she left when class was over. Looking back later, she thought, that should have been a warning.

V^^^^^V

"Happy Birthday." She said, handing over a card she'd hastily bought on the way to the bowling alley. She'd found a card with model airplanes on the front, and something about it had screamed 'JJ' at her, and as his face lit up at the sight of it she found herself smiling.

"Thanks! Although my birthday isn't actually until tomorrow but I have to celebrate it tonight with you on account of it being somewhat of a tradition to celebrate with family dinner on actual birthdays." He grinned at her, and she looked around, taking note of the over abundance of ten year olds running around screaming. She hadn't been to a bowling alley in years, for Christ's sake. She nodded at Thomas and Pandora as they all lined up to get their shoes and bowling alley assigned.

"Just us then?" She asked, hoping to God this wasn't considered a double date.

JJ gave her a slightly embarrassed look. "Yes well I consider you all to be my closest friends and," At her raised eyebrows, considering she'd known him all of two bloody weeks, he blushed. "Or well, only friends." He mumbled, and Thomas patted him on the back.

"Right, well. Let's bowl!" She smiled at them, trying to feel excited and not think about Emily at this moment getting ready for a night out dancing. Tried to swallow the sick feeling she was alarmed to notice when she thought of Emily, on drugs, and dancing with someone else, kissing someone else… she shook her head, almost stumbled as the line moved forward, and crossed her arms over her chest. Because, not that she cared. Really.

"So I think we should probably form two teams, boy girl, or we could have an individual competition?" JJ raised his eyebrows at them as they put their shoes on, Naomi wishing she hadn't worn a white shirt because JJ had chosen the one night of the week that the bowling alley had black lighting and disco music playing, and she couldn't hide if she bloody wanted to. Christ, she thought, she was like a bloody glow worm.

JJ bowled first, and Thomas sat down next to her.

"So Naomi, you must have many questions." He began, and she looked around her for a moment.

"What, here?" She asked, and he nodded at her.

"There is much noise, it is better for us to talk this way." He put his hands on his knees, looking up quickly and smiling as JJ managed a strike and turned around with his arms up in victory. Pandora jumped up, and high fived him.

"Right. Well. What did Cook do, then?" She turned toward him, stared at him intently.

"Last year Pandora she was friends with Effy, Katie and Emily as you are now. They invite her to hang out with them, but her mother does not allow it. So she invites them into her home one evening, and her mother makes them delicious food, an excellent hostess, but they do not eat it." Thomas licked his lips, looking up as Pandora got a spare, turning around with a delighted grin on her face. He looked back at Naomi. "It is your turn."

"What?" She said, turning and seeing JJ motioning toward her with a bowling ball in his hands. "Christ." She said, resigning herself and standing up. She chose her own ball, threw it down the lane without much effort, rolling her eyes as she managed to hit one pin. She ignored JJ as he attempted to give her advice, picked up the heaviest ball she could find, and rolled it slowly toward the remaining pins, turning without bothering to see what she'd hit.

She sat beside Thomas, annoyed when he stood up with a shrug. "My turn." He said, and Pandora took his seat.

"What was Thomas up to?" Pandora asked, and Naomi raised her eyebrows.

"Your mum made food at some party you had but Effy and them wouldn't eat it or something." She crossed her arms, wondering if declining someone's mothers cooking was really grounds for all out war.

"Yeah, Nai, and mum had made whizzer brownies, secret family recipe, but they wouldn't touch them. And they'd helped make them! 'Cept for the secret part of course. But then, there was a secret part even I didn't know about." Pandora's face darkened for a moment. "I don't know which one did it, but they put a whack lot of drugs in mum's brownies."

Naomi wanted to laugh, because really. But she didn't, did her best to keep her face neutral as Pandora went on.

"Anyways me and mum ate a bunch of them. They drugged my mum, Nai." Pandora looked at her sadly, and Naomi frowned. On the one hand that was bloody hilarious, and on the other, well, not so much since Naomi was sure this wasn't the end of the story. "And me, though I didn't know did I? All of a sudden everything was magic, and mum was dancing to rock music and mum only ever listens to opera." Pandora stood up, her turn to bowl, and Naomi was thankful when Thomas sat back down. Pandora was lovely, but all Naomi had gotten from her was that Emily and her friends had forced her mother to have a good bloody time.

"She tells you how they drug her mother?" Thomas asked, and Naomi nodded. "Pandora, she does not remember all that happened afterwards. But those girls disappeared with her mother after they let the boys in. Cook, he talk to her, charm her. She says it was like being hypnotised. Because of the drugs, she is vulnerable. He seduces her. Pandora, she wakes to her house in complete disarray." Naomi listened intently, waving off JJ who took it upon himself to take her turn for her. Thomas looked down at his hands for a moment, and sighed. "Pandora, she wakes up naked with bruises and scratches all over her."

Naomi winced. "What?"

Thomas nodded. Naomi saw his hands ball into fists.

Naomi leant backwards. This wasn't funny at all, and she looked to Pandora who was high fiving JJ after he'd gotten yet another strike. Thomas got up to bowl, and Pandora looked at her, gave her a sheepish look, blushing.

Naomi sat, slightly stunned, until Thomas came back to sit down. "There is something else." He said gravely, and reached out to take her hands and hold them in his, squeezing. "He drinks blood from her."

Naomi's draw dropped, and she pulled her hands back as if she'd been burned. "What?" She said, causing JJ and Pandora to turn around.

"She has bite marks on her neck, her thigh. She is weak." He stares at her, as if willing her to believe him. "Her mother, she has strange marks on her throat and wrists."

"She was probably bloody hung over and he was enthusiastic. She doesn't remember him biting her?" This was ludicrous, and she felt awfully like the butt of someone's joke.

Thomas shook his head. "No, she blacked out. Had visions. When she wakes up, almost a full day has passed." He shrugged at her, and she furiously began taking her shoes off.

"And you expect me to believe what exactly, that they're vampires?" She threw the bowling shoes on the floor, started putting on her own. "That's fucking ridiculous, Thomas." She didn't know why she felt so angry.

Pandora sat on her other side, and put a hand on her arm. "I don't believe it either, Nai. But I don't know what to believe."

"Right. Well. Thank you JJ for a lovely bloody party, and happy birthday." She stood up and began walking to the bowling alley entrance, pulling her phone out of her bag as she went. She dialled Emily's number, and she picked up after one ring.

"Listen, can you come and get me? I think I want to hang out with you lot after all." She began walking toward a convenience store. She needed a fucking cigarette.

"Of course, be there soon." Emily said, and hung up without asking where exactly Naomi was.

She smoked furiously for twenty minutes until Emily pulled up with Cook in the back seat, winding down the passenger window and leaning to smile at her.

Naomi crushed her cigarette with her foot and got into the car.

"You alright, princess?" Cook asked, leaning toward her with a grin. "The children too much for you?"

Naomi sighed as Emily began to drive away. "You could say that." She said, leaning heavily into her seat.

"What happened?" Emily asked, reaching over to briefly pat her knee before changing gears.

"They told me about Pandora's party last year." Naomi glanced at Emily, and watched as she grimaced.

She turned and looked at Cook, watched him staring out the car window for a moment.

"That didn't go so well, I'm afraid." Emily said, and Naomi turned to look at her. "Katie thought it would be fun to be off our faces, which is what she always thinks, and brought all this MDMA along and put it in the brownies." Emily frowned for a moment. "Anyway, we got high as kites and didn't realise her bloody mum was going to eat them too. We had to put her to bed, the daft cow had eaten seven." Emily threw her a quick smile, and Naomi returned it. "And fucking Cook," Emily looked in the rear view mirror, and Naomi turned to see Cook flip Emily off, and roll his eyes at her. "Convinces Pandora that he wants to go out with her, and fucks her in her living room." Naomi frowned at that.

"It wasn't like that!" Cook leant forward. "I'm not a bloody rapist! She'd never done it, wanted to, I offered, sorted. She was into it. Wanted to get it over and done with. I helped her out. She talked about wanting to lose it incessantly, and then there was an opportunity so we went for it." Cook leant backwards, and crossed his arms. "Wasn't my fault she thought we were in love or something."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Whatever happened, she was scarred for life and JJ and Thomas hate us for it. I don't blame them, sort of." Emily shrugged. "Plus you know, we drugged her and her mum who now doesn't let her see anyone or do anything. She's probably waiting in the parking lot at the bowling alley making sure Pandora isn't being gang banged."

Naomi snorted. That made bloody sense, Pandora seemed like the type to get attached, and her mother sounded like a lunatic so of course she blew it out of proportion.

"Probably. Jesus Christ." She looked at Emily, reached over to squeeze her leg thinking, fuck it. "They were trying to convince me you were a pack of vampires." She laughed, watched as Emily looked at her in surprise.

"What?" She said, and Cook leant forward from the backseat laughing.

"Fucking vampires?" He slapped the back of Naomi's seat and threw his head back. "Fucking hilarious!"

Emily started laughing as well, and Naomi felt happier, her anger dissipating into incredulity.

"I'm telling you, too much bloody science fiction. They need to get out more." She turned to Emily, looking at her fondly. "I want to get fucked up tonight."

"A-fucking-men!" Cook cried out from the back seat, and they were all still grinning when they pulled up at the club, as were Effy and Freddie who waited on the footpath. Even Katie gave her a smile, which was something.

When Emily showed her a pill on her tongue later that night, Naomi didn't hesitate in pulling the shorter girl toward her, and kissing her well past what was necessary. They were on a crowded dance floor, amidst flashing lights, and Naomi knew no one could see them. When the drugs hit her later than that, she kissed Emily again, pulling at her shirt desperately, and when Emily moved to her neck she tilted her head back and gazed at the ceiling, and saw Emily lying naked in her bed, kissing down her face and shoulder, reciting the lines of her favourite poem as her hand moved further and further down Naomi's body.

"We have lingered in the chambers of the sea, by sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown, till human voices wake us, and we drown."

V^^^^^V


	4. Happiness Hit Like A Bullet In The Back

She woke up feeling like utter death, again, and for a moment the previous night seemed like some kind of weird dream. Had Thomas actually suggested that Emily was a vampire? She smiled sleepily, snuggling deeper into her blankets, reaching for the hand that was resting on her hip and pulling it around her. Thomas was nuts, and obviously had the mentality of a twelve year old. She slipped her fingers through those of the hand she held, curled it into her chest, a body pressing fully along her back. She had images of Thomas and JJ whittling stakes, and building forts, and running around a back yard somewhere fighting over who got to save Princess Pandora from Count Cook the Blood Sucking Party Boy. Bloody ridiculous.

Hang on, she thought, and her eyes had flown open. Why was there someone in bed with her? She pushed the hand away, got up far too quickly and sat back down on the bed, turning in alarm to see Emily smiling sheepishly at her.

"Morning." Emily rasped, and Naomi shut her eyes for a second.

"Uh, hi. Why are you in my bed?" Her voice scratched against her throat, and she wondered how many more of these hangovers she could go through.

"Sorry. Last night you," Emily sat up, but didn't get out of her bed. Just scooted backwards until her she was resting against the headboard. She folded her hands in her lap. "Asked me not to leave if you fell asleep."

"Did I?" Naomi said, more to herself, turning her back to Emily and bringing her hands up to rub her face.

"Feel okay?" Emily asked softly, and Naomi felt a hand gently rub against her lower back. She would've moved away, but sudden movements would probably have made her sick and anyway, it felt nice.

"Christ no." She sighed, felt her mind spinning and a strange kind of hollowness in her limbs.

"Here." Emily said, and she felt the bed jostle as Emily moved away from her for a moment. Jesus, she thought, no more drugs. Ever. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and Emily handed her a large bottle of orange juice. "Drink this, it'll make you feel better."

Naomi frowned, but accepted the bottle. "Is this mine?" She asked, feeling entirely too confused and grumpy.

"Yeah, I swiped it from your fridge before we came upstairs last night. You don't remember?" Emily rubbed her back again, and leaned her cheek against her shoulder, and Naomi couldn't be bothered shaking her off. She tilted the juice bottle against her lips, and drank until it was almost empty. She burped, and felt Emily smile against her shoulder. "Charming."

"Yeah well, I'm not feeling my best. I think I need to lie down again." She felt Emily move back, away from her, and she put the juice bottle on the floor before lying backwards, curling into the foetal position and feeling absolutely woeful.

"I'm sorry." She heard Emily whisper, and she turned to see the girl giving her an awfully guilty look.

She felt her own expression soften, and reached for Emily's hand, tugging her until they were spooning again. "S'not your fault. It's my bloody own. Fucking pills." She was starting to feel better, which was something. Who would've figured that orange juice was such an effective hangover cure?

A kiss was pressed near her ear, and it made her shudder.

"So, you're not gay?" She heard mumbled, as another kiss was pressed below the first.

She frowned, though after a moment it dissolved into a half smile. "No." She turned onto her back, pushing Emily away from her, but kept hold of her hand, kept her close. "You're not so bad, though."

Emily gave her a bashful smile, and Naomi couldn't help looking at her lips briefly.

"Yeah, you're pretty alright." Emily's smile had grown wider as Naomi rolled her eyes. "Maybe just pretty." She amended, and Naomi wasn't sure what feeling was stronger at this point – the urge to roll her eyes again, or smile in return.

"How is it you're not nearly as hung over as me?" She opted to change the subject instead, watching as Emily's smile grew wan.

"Magic." She mumbled, pulling her hand out of Naomi's and leaning back, looking away.

Oh, Naomi thought, okay. She frowned after a moment, leaning her head to look at the clock next to her bed. "Jesus, it's only nine in the morning. No wonder I feel like bloody death warmed up." She narrowed her eyes at Emily, as Emily turned back toward her.

"Yeah well, I thought your dad would be asking questions so woke you up."

Naomi shut her eyes, remembered the feeling of someone running their hand over her arm, along her waist, and back again. She opened her eyes slowly, looked at Emily, and forgot what she was going to say.

Sometimes Emily had this way of just gazing at her, as if her eyes were locked to her own and she couldn't look away. There was something too intriguing, too lovely, and altogether too much about her. She seemed so relaxed, lounging back against her headboard, her head cocked slightly to the side. But her eyes were staring intensely into her own, as if looking for something. As her lips quirked into a small smile, Naomi wondered if Emily thought she had found it.

She felt her stomach drop, felt something altogether alarming happening further down, and bit her lip as Emily's eyes flickered between her own and her mouth.

"Fuck." She said, barely audible, and reached for Emily as Emily fell toward her.

She felt her chin dip as Emily pressed her lips against her own, pushed back as her mouth opened and she had Emily's tongue in her mouth, and it felt altogether too wonderful. She heard herself moan, very slightly, deep in her throat, as Emily cupped her face with one hand, pressing deeper into her mouth. Naomi kissed her back, opening her mouth wider, wondering for a moment if she could get it wide enough, feeling as if she couldn't get enough of Emily inside her.

She lifted her head slightly off the bed, pushing herself into Emily. Emily shifted herself, not taking her lips off Naomi's, moving until her body was lying half over Naomi.

This was new, Naomi would've thought, if she'd been capable of anything resembling coherency.

She ran one hand up Emily's back, tangling it into her hair and crushing their mouths together harder. The other she kept on Emily's shoulder, clamped tightly.

She moaned, loudly, when Emily dragged her hand down from her cheek and cupped her chest, squeezing her tit as she arched into it, and something sharp caught her lip and she realised, after a moment, there was blood in her mouth.

Emily froze above her.

"Ow, Jesus." Naomi ran her tongue along her bottom lip, feeling the smallest of cuts. She looked at Emily's face, frowning when she saw that Emily had squeezed her eyes and mouth shut as if she was in pain. "Ems?" She asked, softly, and Emily pushed away from her, moving so quickly to the end of her bed that Naomi wondered if she'd imagined it.

Emily sat with her back toward her, her head down, gripping the bed sheets in both hands.

Naomi raised herself onto her elbows, taking stock of what the Jesus fuck had just happened. Hot and heavy didn't even begin to cover it, and as she sat up she noticed a decidedly uncomfortable slipperiness between her legs. She cleared her throat, unsure what to do with herself. After all, her lip had already stopped bleeding and it wasn't that big a deal.

"Sorry." Emily rasped after a while, her voice so low Naomi barely heard her. "Got a bit…" Emily trailed off, and Naomi watched as she brought one hand up as if to cover her mouth.

"So did I." Naomi murmured, and took a deep breath.

"I should go. Let you recover." Emily stood, refusing to look at her. Naomi felt stupidly confused for a moment because wasn't she the one who was meant to have the sexuality crisis?

"Are you alright to drive?" Naomi asked, wincing because what she meant to say was 'Stay.'

Emily turned to her after a minute, offering a smile that wouldn't meet her eyes, nodding. She walked slowly back to the bed, leaning down and pressing a decidedly chaste kiss against Naomi's lips.

"Bye." Naomi said softly, reaching a hand up to her mouth. She enjoyed kissing Emily far too bloody much.

Emily gave her a small wave as she opened her bedroom door, and Naomi thought about manners and politeness, and seeing people out of houses, but she was far too bloody hung over to get up. And Jesus Christ she was turned on. She wondered if she could actually walk.

Emily closed her bedroom door with a soft click, and a little while after that Naomi thought she heard her front door shut and a car start outside. She lay on her back, eyes closed, and thought about Emily.

Twice.

V^^^^^V

She hadn't been looking forward to Monday, and she was starting to wonder if she'd spend every Monday morning nervously shifting her weight from foot to foot and smoking outside the college, worrying what would happen inside. Fuck it, though. She was allowed to be friends with who she liked. And besides, why was she nervous? She should be the angry one, angry that Thomas, JJ and Pandora thought she was that stupid, or gullible, to believe in their childish bloody fantasies.

She sighed. Emily hadn't texted her or anything since she'd left her room on Saturday morning. Emily was the gay one, though, wasn't she? And yet here she was worrying she'd pushed Emily too far.

She had half a mind to skip college altogether. But that was admitting like admitting defeat, and fuck it.

She'd actually managed to complete her coursework for the first time the day before, and that was something. When she walked into philosophy she felt her face fall when she saw the empty seat beside Cook, though he gave her a smile.

She made her way to Pandora, but before she sat down Cook leaned over and tugged at the back of her skirt.

"Have a seat next to me, yeah?" He raised his eyebrows at her, and when she glanced at Pandora, Pandora was staring resolutely toward the front of the classroom and not looking at her.

She sat next to Cook, flinching slightly as he gave her a rough kiss on the cheek and a grin.

"How's it going?" She asked, getting things out of her bag, the desire to ask after Emily making her tap her foot impatiently.

"Not bad, yeah. You?" Cook leant back against his chair, legs splaying out in front of him, and she frowned when she realised he didn't have any books on his desk. Had never had any books, or pens, and neither had the rest of them.

"Alright." She said softly as Miss Clark addressed the class, barking at them in a particularly worse mood than usual. "Where's Emily?" She asked out of the corner of her mouth, keeping her eyes on their teacher.

"Unwell." Cook said, looking past her to stare out of the window for a moment.

Naomi looked at him. "What's wrong with her?" She bit her lip slightly, felt the mostly healed cut on her lip.

Cook just shrugged, looking at her after a pause with a grin. "Sitting with us today, then?" And he raised his eyebrows at the back of Pandora's head. She rolled her eyes, smiling despite herself.

"Yeah, of course."

"I don't mind you changing seats but the least you could do is pay attention, Naomi." Miss Clark had her hands on her hips, and Naomi felt her face flush.

"My fault, distracting her with something interesting instead of the crap you're teaching." Cook crossed his arms, his face expressionless. Miss Clark narrowed her eyes at him.

"I'm not in the mood for you today, James. One more word and you're out." They seemed to have a staring contest, until Cook eventually threw his hands up in mock defeat. Miss Clark pursed her lips before continuing, and Cook reached over to Naomi's notebook and tore out a sheet of paper, grabbing one of her pens.

He wrote 'She's just a bit under the weather, nothing to worry about' on it and passed it back to her, and she smiled to herself because it seemed uncharacteristically sweet of him to reassure her.

'Think she'll be back tomorrow?' Naomi passed the piece of paper back, nodding her head with her classmates as Miss Clark talked about something she hadn't heard.

'Might.' Cook just wrote, and Naomi stopped herself from sighing too audibly. Well. Obviously she'd just have to wait and see.

When class was finished, she texted Emily for the seventh time since Saturday, and again got absolutely no response.

She ignored Pandora, Thomas and JJ when she walked past the table they were sharing. She saw JJ try to wave at her, and Pandora shaking her head at him, and held her head slightly higher because not that she cared, really.

Freddie gave her a smile when she sat down next to him, noticed him holding a cigarette that he didn't really smoke, just let sit between his fingers and smoulder.

"How are you?" He asked her, and she realised it was the first time he'd ever spoken to her. He smiled at her easily, and Effy sat down across from them, Katie and Cook arguing about something a little ways off that Naomi couldn't overhear.

"Pretty good, recovered from Friday at least." She returned his smile, feeling slightly awkward. After all, she usually spent all her time with them with Emily.

"Emily mentioned you were pretty hung over." He said, taking a drag on his cigarette as if remembering it was there. He blew out a cloud of smoke, and pulled a face. "Want one?" He asked, pushing a newly opened packet toward her. She knocked a cigarette out, and blinked as Effy leant across the table and flicked a lighter in her face, lighting her cigarette and moving swiftly backwards with barely a raise of her eyebrows.

"Yeah, those pills you get are amazing." She nodded her head toward Effy, who tilted her head slightly and stared at her. "But the come down is bloody awful."

Effy smiled at her slowly, then. "What goes up." She shrugged her shoulders, laughed softly at her own joke. Naomi glanced at Freddie, who looked back at her sideways and shook his head.

"Is Emily alright?" She asked, wanting to slap herself when she noticed Effy give Freddie a knowing look. "Just, I wouldn't want to catch anything." Fuck. That was as good as saying they'd been bloody close enough to share an infection. "I'm easily susceptible to illness." She mumbled, tossing her cigarette and reaching into her bag for her lunch to give her something else to focus on.

"She's fine." Freddie laughed, reaching over to pat her on the back. "Just didn't feel like college today. Needed some Emily time, or something. She'll be right as rain soon enough." She felt herself blushing when he took his hand off her back, and hastily opened her sandwich and began eating it.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Effy leaned on her elbows toward her across the table, and Naomi couldn't look away.

"Not sure, really. Journalism, maybe. Politics, perhaps." She shrugged, taking another bite of her sandwich. Effy was nodding at her.

"You want to save the world." Effy smiled, and Naomi finished half of her sandwich, unsure how to answer.

"I wanted to be a trumpet player." Freddie said suddenly, fiddling with the packet of cigarettes, turning them over and over in his hands. Naomi raised her eyebrows.

"Oh." She just said, because what else was there to say to that, really?

Cook sauntered over to them, then, sliding along the seat next to Effy and giving Naomi a big grin.

"Welcome to the dark side!" He laughed.

"She alright?" Effy asked him, as Naomi snorted and reached for the second half of her sandwich. She watched Cook look back at Katie for a moment, who seemed to be on the phone, and then squint at the clouds overhead.

"Will be." He said simply, and then grinned indulgently at Naomi. "Coming out again Friday?" He crossed his arms on the table, leaning on them and looking at her eagerly.

She swallowed the bite of her sandwich, and nodded. "Course I am." She wanted to add 'If Emily's feeling better', but didn't.

"Christ in fucking hell I swear I'm going to punch her right in the face." Katie threw her phone violently onto the table and sat down next to Cook. "Move the fuck over would you?" And Effy moved down, continuing to gaze at Naomi, while Cook continued to grin at her. Christ, when would she stop being made to feel like she was under a fucking microscope?

"What's her problem?" Freddie asked, gesturing at the phone, and Naomi felt herself start to blush.

"Fuck knows, or cares at this point. Hi." Katie turned to face her, tersely, and Naomi swallowed her bite quickly.

"How's it going?" She tried to be friendly, but knew it was the wrong question when Katie gave her a small glare.

"Fucking ridiculously, actually. No bloody thanks to you." Katie frowned as Cook put an arm around her.

"Relax, darlin'. It'll sort itself." Naomi watched as Cook squeezed, and Katie shook herself out of the half embrace.

"Or you, arsehole. You always fucking encourage her, and it always goes fucking badly." Katie leant an arm on the table, and looked at Naomi. "Just what are your intentions towards my sister, anyway?"

Naomi blinked, dropping the rest of her sandwich between her knees and onto the ground. "What?" She asked, blushing ridiculously.

"Leave it, Katie." Effy said mildly, and Naomi looked at Freddie, who rolled his eyes and gave her an impish grin, and Cook winked at her.

"Whatever." Katie said. "Christ, give me a fucking cigarette. I don't care if it doesn't work." Freddie passed her the packet, and Effy leant across Cook to light one for her.

Naomi had no clue what they were talking about, and realised with alarm that she was starting to grow used to secrecy.

"Is anyone going to tell me what's going on?" She asked, beginning to feel annoyed. She had thought she'd left all this mysterious crap behind her when she'd chosen not to sit with Thomas, JJ and Pandora.

"Actually, babes, it's none of your fucking business." Katie blew out a breath of smoke angrily, before directing her anger toward her half smoked cigarette and crushing it onto the table. "Fucking useless." She muttered at it.

"Yeah." Freddie laughed, and Cook looked at him. "It's a twin thing." They said in unison, and Cook fell about slapping the table laughing, as Freddie chuckled beside her.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to us." Effy gave her a small, calm smile, reaching over to briefly squeeze her arm. She noticed Katie watching Effy's action like a hawk, and frowned. Katie looked at her, crossing her arms.

"What?" She spat out, and Naomi held her hands up in defence.

"Jesus, nothing. Don't get your bloody knickers in a twist." She couldn't help it, Katie was acting like a right twat.

"Shouldn't have said that." Freddie muttered to her, and Naomi didn't think Cook could look happier if he tried.

"Here we go!" He rubbed his hands together, and she watched as Katie's eyes got narrower and narrower.

"Listen you fucking rug munching fashion reject, if it wasn't for you none of this shit would even be happening so don't you fucking dare give me lip about my knickers in a twist." Katie smiled at her, cruelly. "Unless my sister's knickers aren't the only ones you've been fantasising about?" Katie raised her eyebrows at Naomi quickly, as Naomi's jaw dropped.

She felt her mouth go dry, watched Cook look between them, his gleefulness thankfully gone at the look on her face, and Effy tilted her head up to stare at the clouds.

Naomi stood up. "Sorry, Katie, I best be off before I get too excited and finger you under the table. Oh wait, I don't go for slags. I forgot." She shook her head, and stalked away from them, ignoring Cook's shouts, trying desperately not to look as shaken as she felt, particularly when she walked past Thomas, JJ and Pandora. They were the last people she wanted thinking that any of them had hurt her.

V^^^^^V

She'd skipped her afternoon classes, complained of period pain and had her dad pick her up, even if it was slightly embarrassing. She sat in her room and cried, and hated herself for it. But Emily was avoiding her, for some reason, and she missed her mum though was loathe to admit it, least of all actually call the woman and admit it to her.

Everything had turned to shit.

The worst part, the bit that made her feel the angriest, was she didn't know what exactly she'd done to warrant Katie's outburst, or Emily skipping college. After all, Emily had kissed her, had reached for her, had fucking felt her up even. It didn't make sense.

She refused dinner, didn't feel like eating and was able to blame her cramps for making her feel ill. At nine she heard her phone buzz, and reached for it quickly, disappointed when she saw it was a message from Thomas.

'I am still here when you need me.'

V^^^^^V

She'd thought of skipping college, complaining again of cramps she didn't actually feel, and then thought the better of it. Katie wasn't scaring her off, fuck her.

She got out of her dad's car, started walking toward the college doors and stopped abruptly when she saw Emily and Katie standing outside. Katie had her arms crossed over her chest, was whispering furiously at Emily, who was looking around as if searching for someone. Naomi took a deep breath, and wondered if she should walk over to them or pretend she hadn't seen them.

"Naomi!" Emily called out, walking toward her.

Naomi stopped, feeling guarded. Which was normal, fine, but so far Emily had been the only person she hadn't felt like this with.

"Hey." Naomi said, grasping the shoulder strap of her bag to give her hands something to do.

"How are you?" Emily asked, reaching forward to touch her arm, pulling her hand back at the last minute.

"Alright. Feeling better?" Naomi peered at Emily, watched as her expression tightened for a moment, before she nodded and smiled.

"Yeah. Just a bug, probably." Emily looked as awkward as she felt, and turned to her sister after a moment.

"Well?" She called out, and Katie stalked over to them, rolling her eyes.

"Fuck's sake. Naomi, hello." Katie wouldn't look at her though, casting her gaze everywhere else. She watched as Emily elbowed Katie in the side. "Right. Sorry about yesterday." Katie glanced at her then, eyes narrowing as if expecting Naomi to laugh at her or something.

Naomi shrugged. "For calling me a rug muncher, or blaming me for something I have no idea about?" She crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

"I don't know, all of it. Look, I'm apologising so just fucking accept it already." Katie put her hands on her hips, looking back toward the college for a moment. "I was cranky and I snapped, alright?" She looked at Naomi, and Naomi was pretty sure she didn't mean the apology at all.

Naomi nodded anyway. "Thanks." She said, added "Sorry for calling you a slag." for good measure because she wasn't letting Katie have any kind of higher moral ground for a second.

Katie surprised her by snorting as she started walking backwards toward the college. "See you round then, yeah?" She turned on her heel, striding toward the front doors, and Naomi turned to Emily, almost forgetting she was there.

"So I skip one day and look what I miss." Emily gave her a half smile, her voice soft, starting to walk toward the college.

Naomi walked next to her, far enough away not to touch or brush against her accidently. "That was the highlight, mainly. You make her apologise?" Naomi reached the doors first, holding them open as Emily walked through.

"Cook regaled me with the whole thing, including a re-enactment. Katie snaps, sometimes. She's like," Emily shrugged, looking shyly at Naomi sideways as they walked. "Got the worst temper, and loses it all the fucking time."

Naomi snorted. "I'll say."

"Cook does the best impression of her though. And you. What did you threaten her with, fingering under the table?" Emily laughed then, loud and lovely, and Naomi found herself smiling genuinely for the first time since the weekend.

"So what did I do to you that made her so angry, anyway?" Naomi stopped outside their philosophy classroom, watching as the laughter left Emily. Emily adjusted her bag, tilting her head and gazing back at Naomi after a moment.

"You didn't do anything." Emily watched her, reaching out to grab her hand when Naomi felt her own expression close off and an eye roll imminent. "Really. I was just overwhelmed by, well, Saturday morning and," Emily stepped closer to her, softly rubbing her thumb against the back of Naomi's hand. "I'm sorry."

Naomi blew out a breath, pulling her hand gently out of Emily's grasp. "We did get a bit out of control. We should, you know, just be friends probably." She heard herself say the words, and tried desperately to believe them. She gave Emily a soft smile, and Emily licked her lips, and nodded.

"I think so too."

Later, Freddie gave her a big smile when she sat with them at lunch, and Effy raised her eyebrows appreciatively. Katie rolled her eyes.

"Don't make such a fucking big deal of it, arseholes." Katie tossed her hair, flipping off Cook when he laughed at her.

"She's done well, facing a tiger like you again." Cook winked at Naomi, laughing when Katie slapped his chest. Effy was seated next to Katie, and when she leaned her head to rest on Katie's shoulder, Naomi started wondering about sex cults again and hated herself for it.

"Like you can talk, mate." Freddie leaned forward, and Cook screwed his face up. "She ate your balls for breakfast first time you met. You almost pissed yourself." Freddie waggled his eyebrows, and Emily laughed.

"Operative word being 'almost', Freds." Cook put an arm around Katie, fondly. "Sides, managed to get on her good side didn't I?" Katie smirked, and Naomi thought she'd clicked onto something, finally.

"So you two are…?" She asked, gesturing vaguely toward them, a half sandwich in one hand.

They all started laughing, and Emily shook her head at her, reaching out to gently touch her hand.

"We don't play happy couples like Pandora, Thomas and JJ." Emily gave her a smile, and Naomi remembered what it felt like to have those lips against her own. She felt a mild anxiety at the thought, wondered if it was so appealing because they'd decided not to let it happen again. She looked away from Emily when it became too much, when thoughts other than kissing drifted into her head, and she must have missed something because Katie slammed her hand onto the table and declared she needed the bathroom, right fucking now, and left.

In the back of her mind, she realised that for the second day in row none of them had eaten anything for lunch, and she felt slightly awkward being the only one to do so. And there were a lot of reasons why they didn't, from weird diets to, fucked if she knew, some kind of religious reasoning. When she heard Thomas's voice echoing in her head, she ignored it.

'But they do not eat…'

V^^^^^V

Emily bumped her shoulder into Naomi's as they walked out of college, smiling at her sideways. Naomi was surprised when Effy slipped an arm through hers, and smirked at her.

"Come on Campbell." She said, leading Naomi toward the parking lot. Naomi looked to Effy's other side, watched as Katie kept glancing at their intertwined arms.

"Fuck." She heard Emily mutter as a boy leaning against a car smiled at them. He had bright yellow sunglasses on, and an open shirt, and Naomi had never seen him before in her life.

"Well, well, well." He said as they approached, and Effy gave her arm a squeeze before pulling away, her and Katie walking off into the carpark. She watched the boy wink at them, and then turn to her. "You must be Naomi, then. Lovely, yeah." He looked her up and down, and lifted his glasses to give her a surprisingly warm smile.

"What are you doing here?" Emily asked him, and he spread his arms out to either side of him.

"Giving you and your lady friend a ride, clearly." He leant forward, extending his arm toward Naomi. "I'm Chris, friend of Ems." She felt her entire arm shaking as he enthusiastically shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Naomi said, looking quickly to see a slightly alarmed look on Emily's face.

Chris jumped forward, opening the passenger door and gesturing toward her. "My lady." He said, and she found his smile ridiculously infectious. She gave Emily a somewhat helpless look as she got into the car, and Emily rolled her eyes and walked around to get in the seat behind the driver's.

Chris got into the car, and Naomi glanced at him, had expected the other people Emily had mentioned living with to be much older than he seemed.

"Really, Chris. What the fuck?" Emily leant forward, her face appearing in the space between the front seats.

Chris turned to look at her. "What, I can't drive your girlfriend home? I wanted to meet her." He smiled openly at Naomi. "She talks about you all the time." He started the car as Emily sat back in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Actually, we're not. You know. That." Naomi smiled thinly, not looking back at Emily, and Chris winked at her.

"Oh yeah." He said, and turned in the complete opposite direction to where she lived.

"Actually, I'm…" She started, pointing behind them, but he cut her off.

"Thought we'd go for a drive, get to know each other. See what little Emily's gotten herself into." But he kept his smile light, and open, and after a moment Naomi snorted.

"Are you and Katie tag teaming or something?" She wound her window down, put her hand out of it and moved it over the gusts of wind as if riding a wave.

"Jesus, couldn't this happen when I'm not, like, present." Emily stared moodily out of the back window, and Naomi faintly heard her mutter. "Or not at all."

"I heard about your little tiff with our Katie yesterday. She's a vixen, she is, but a top girl. Quality." He started fiddling with the cigarette lighter, pushing it in and pulling a cigarette out of his top pocket. He lit it when the lighter popped out, and offered her one. She took it, smiling. "Fiercely protective. Get her on side though, and she'd kill for you, man. Top girl."

"So you live with Emily and Katie, right? In some big happy teenage family." Naomi blew smoke out of the side of her mouth, turning to face Chris, ignoring Emily being grumpy in the back.

Chris smiled slyly at her. "Something like that. Us oldies, and the kidlings. Isn't that right, Ems?" He looked at Emily in the rear view mirror, and Emily flipped him off.

"You don't look old." Naomi said, and he didn't. He looked barely a day older than Cook or Freddie.

"Good genes, man." He winked at her. "We graduated before these ones started. Same college. Good old Roundview." Naomi had no idea where they were driving to, but she was having a surprisingly good time.

"And what, you're like a collective of orphans?" Naomi exhaled, finally felt like some of her questions might be answered.

"Chris." She heard Emily's voice from the backseat, her voice low and serious, and Chris waved her off.

"Sort of. Tony got us together, Effy's his little sister, yeah. Ten of us work well, most of the time." He lit a new cigarette off the end of the one he'd been smoking, and flicked the butt out of the window. "You should come visit us." He grinned at her, holding her eye until she nodded, which she did quickly, on account of not wanting to die in a motor vehicle accident. Or at all.

Emily leant forward again, at that. "It's not that exciting, actually. And you can if you want. But not this afternoon." Emily had a tinge of desperation in her voice, and Naomi nodded after a while, though she was burning to see where they all lived.

"Yeah, well, consider this an open invite Naomi." Chris again lit a new cigarette off his old, tossing the butt onto the road, smoking furiously. "Cass is gagging herself to meet you."

"Well, maybe sometime soon?" She shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Emily, who was looking out her window with a mildly panicked expression.

"Nice one." Chris happily tapped his hands against the steering wheel, and Naomi realised they were turning onto her street. "I've never seen Ems this animated ever, not since she met you, so you know."

"For fuck's sake!" Emily threw her hands up, and Naomi smirked, feeling stupidly smug. She decided she really liked Chris.

"Yeah well, she's been the nicest to me since I got here." She looked at Chris as he pulled up outside her house, and thought, fuck it. "I'm thankful I met her." She glanced quickly at Emily, blushing, and Chris turned around and raised his eyebrows.

"I like this one." He said to Emily, and Naomi felt like that was something important.

She got a rambling series of texts from Emily later that night, apologising for Katie again, for Chris, and insisting that Naomi's idea of friendship was the right one. Naomi grinned when she read them, and decided she wouldn't answer, not yet. Emily had left her waiting for days, anyway, and could stand a little impatience. It would be good for her.

At one in the morning, though, her phone started ringing, and she ignored it until the seventh call, blearily answering.

"Hello?" She didn't open her eyes, pressing the phone against the side of her head.

"Hi. It's Emily."

"Hi. S'late." She rubbed her eyes slightly, could hear that Emily was outside somewhere as a car drove by in the background.

"Sorry, you're right. Shit. Did I wake you? Just wondered if you got my texts, and were, you know, alright."

A car drove by her window, as she heard another go past Emily. She sat up suddenly.

"Emily, where are you?" She heard Emily chuckle slightly.

"Outside your house. Not like, being a stalker. More like being, uh, concerned and just. I'm going home now anyway."

Naomi sighed, looking around her room, barely making anything out in the dark. She was sleepy, and that made it easier to offer what she did.

"Come inside for a bit?"

She opened her front door, something inside her chest twinging when she saw Emily standing there awkwardly, a nervous smile planted on her face. Emily stepped toward her, and without really thinking about it, Naomi pulled her in for a hug, and blamed it on being sleepy.

As Emily cuddled into her from behind, not too much later in bed, and her eyes slipped shut and she felt her mind slanting into sleep, she tightened her hold on Emily's hand, and told herself that's how friends acted and this was completely normal. Whatever this was.

V^^^^V

Philosophy was easily the worst class over the next few weeks on account of Pandora sullenly ignoring her and there being no where else to sit. On the sunny days she hated lunch time, sitting behind the college by herself and texting Emily, wondering how on earth it was fair that they all got to skip college and go camping, or whatever they did, Emily only saying, by way of text, that Tony had organised it with the college and he was extremely persuasive.

She met her dad's girlfriend, who seemed okay enough, but tried too hard to impress her. When she locked herself in her bedroom after the dinner, trying hard not to watch as her dad and Veronica flirted shamelessly, she ignored his attempts to get her to hang out with them. The last thing she wanted to do was watch a bloody family film, let alone with the both of them.

Emily kept showing up, most nights, and they never talked about cuddling up to each other as she slept. On a night where Emily wasn't there, she was alarmed to realise just how much she missed her. Fuck, she'd thought, I actually sleep better when she's here.

When they all went out on Friday nights, she didn't fail to notice that Emily now just handed her a pill, instead of kissing her. But that was what they'd decided, sort of. As it turned out, friends didn't transfer drugs with kisses, and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.

Once the drugs hit her though, she lost all inhibitions without fail, and reached for Emily with a blissful smile, tangling her hands in Emily's hair and pulling her to her neck. Hang over or no, it was a strange intimacy she didn't want to give up.

She stopped eating lunch when they were at college, smoking cigarettes and laughing as Cook seemed to take it upon himself to keep them all entertained. When Emily sat next to her, which wasn't every day, they held hands under the table, and Katie glared at her every time, without fail, but thankfully kept her mouth shut.

She realised, laughing uncontrollably as Cook re-enacted a love struck girl stalking Freddie through the streets of Bristol, Freddie rolling his eyes as Cook fawned all over him, and Emily squeezed her hand under the table, that she was actually happy.

She'd never felt like this, ever.

V^^^^^V

"We're going mental tonight!" Cook yelled as Naomi got into the car, Effy in the driver's seat and Freddie tapping his hands along to the song on the radio on the dashboard.

She squeezed into the back of the car, Emily in the middle and Cook on her other side. Effy gunned the engine, laughing as Cook shook the back of her seat in excitement.

"Apparently Cook got his hands on some amazing drugs." Emily said to her, leaning into her shoulder and Naomi breathed in the smell of her, intoxicated by it.

"Jesus, I'm not looking forward to tomorrow then." Naomi laughed, and Cook leaned over Emily even as Emily put her hand on her knee and squeezed.

"Fuck tomorrow! Tonight is fucking pregnant, princess." He threw his head back, and Naomi wondered if he'd taken something already.

"Where's Katie?" She asked Emily, as they drove towards a club she hadn't been to before.

Emily rolled her eyes. "She's gone with Chris and them tonight."

Naomi frowned slightly. "Oh, they've gone out too?"

"Yeah, they always do. But we rarely all go out together." Emily grinned as Freddie turned the radio up as loud as it could go, drumming his hands on his knees, and Cook sang along loudly.

When they walked into the club, Naomi still felt slightly smug that people always turned to look at them with, she thought, something close to envy. She was always the only one to drink, and noticed that they all went off in search of someone to hook up with before meeting on the dance floor, much later, and dancing until it was time to leave.

She couldn't keep her eyes off Emily, wasn't sure if it was her outfit, or the way she kept gazing at her, leaning in too close when they talked, constantly touching her when they danced. Emily handed her a pill, and she swallowed it without hesitation, not bothering for it to come on before grabbing Emily and dancing against her.

Emily didn't seem to mind, running her hands along Naomi's hips and smirking as they pressed against each other, their faces barely centimetres apart. The club was dark, the dance floor crowded with bodies, and they kept being jostled. A boy appeared behind her, and she felt him dancing against her back, reaching his hands around to her front, and she watched as Emily's face darkened with something resembling jealousy, and then she'd grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd.

Emily dragged her into the toilets, into a cubicle and shut the door behind them, pressing Naomi up against it. She'd never seen Emily's eyes so dark.

"I can't stand it." She heard Emily say thickly, before Emily was kissing her, hard.

She knew she moaned into it, pulling Emily into her, whispering "It's okay." against her lips when they parted, surging back with hot, open kisses, and she was aware, vaguely, that Emily's hands were under her shirt and roaming over her back. She dragged her hands under Emily's top, her fingernails scratching over her stomach, and one of Emily's legs slipped between her own. She felt something sharp graze her lip, and quickly reached her hands around Emily's back, holding her close when Emily, again, froze.

"Don't go." She whispered, as Emily pulled away from her with her mouth shut, but Emily moved down her front, pushing her shirt up roughly and kissing her stomach as Naomi's head fell back against the cubicle door, and the pill started to kick in as the ceiling began to spin.

She felt her skirt hiking up, and was so lost in the moment that she tangled her hands in Emily's hair and pulled her against her stomach.

Jesus, she thought, as Emily slipped a hand into her underwear, and her legs began to tremble as Emily's fingers slid against her, Emily's tongue tracing a line from her belly button downwards. Her underwear was all but ripped off, and then Emily's tongue replaced her fingers and she thought she was going to fall over.

Emily pushed two fingers into her, and she cried out, not caring who heard them. Faintly, she heard giggles and taps rushing with water, heard hand dryers and chatter in the neighbouring cubicles. But none of that mattered, all that mattered was that Emily was sliding her tongue over her clit, was thrusting her fingers inside her, and it felt incredible. Felt like more than she'd ever felt in her whole life.

Something sharp grazed against the inside of her thigh when Emily moved her head to kiss it, and the slight pain mixed with Emily's curling fingers, made her gasp and shudder. And then Emily was back, licking steadily as, seemingly without warning, Naomi had the most intense orgasm of her life.

Her vision swam, and then her eyes clamped shut. She was aware that she was probably ripping Emily's hair out, her hands clamping tightly as she came, and when she finally began to catch her breath, dizzy with the sheer fucking intensity of the whole situation, she realised Emily was again kissing the juncture between her thigh and her groin, even while her fingers were still inside her.

Naomi took deep, shuddering breaths, leaning against the cubicle door heavily, as Emily moved to place a kiss against her stomach, and slowly slid her fingers out of her. She wasn't sure how much time passed, before Emily was standing against her, holding her, and Naomi chuckled weakly.

"Christ." She murmured, as Emily pulled back and gave her a small grin.

"Was that alright?" Emily asked, brushing strands of Naomi's hair out of her eyes, and giving her a shy, if not still rather heated look.

"I think you killed me." Naomi took in a deep breath, feeling the ecstasy in her system pepping her up again.

"Dance floor?" Emily quirked an eyebrow, and Naomi blinked.

"Do you want…" She started, completely unsure what she was asking, but Emily shook her head.

"Come on."

There was nothing shy, or awkward about their dancing now, aside from Naomi feeling a little uncomfortable that she was now sans underwear and in a skirt, no less. Emily had her arms wrapped around her, was swaying her hips against her own, and Naomi thought, fuck friendship.

Emily moved to her neck, sometime later, and Naomi was just starting to have happy thoughts about being back in the bathroom cubicle, when she felt herself pulled roughly backwards by someone. She was too dazed, for a moment, to pull her hand away from them, and frowned when she caught a glimpse of Emily's face, shocked, a weird darkness around her mouth and something else she noticed but couldn't wrap her head around in the moment.

Two people were dragging her, and when she saw Thomas and JJ, each with their hands clamped firmly against her wrists, she tried to pull away.

"What the fuck?" She shrieked at them, and Thomas looked at her, slightly panicked.

"Come on Naomi!" He yelled, and they were off the dance floor and moving toward the door.

"Let go of me!" She yelled, and JJ gave her an apologetic and frightful look.

"Your neck!" He said loudly, and she struggled against them, wondering why no one was intervening as she was dragged out of the club doors.

"Oi! Let her go!" One of the bouncers yelled, and pushed JJ off her. "Jesus, did they do this to you? Bernie, call the fucking police, man!"

She felt something sticky on her neck, sliding thickly onto her shirt. Had someone spilled a drink on her?

"Your neck." JJ said, sounding pathetic, standing just in front of her as a bouncer moved toward him.

She frowned, shook Thomas off her, and reached up to touch her neck, wincing when it hurt. She pulled her hand away, saw blood on her fingers, and felt suddenly like she wanted to be sick.

"Please come with us." Thomas said to her, ducking away from a bouncer that moved to grab him.

"You alright, love?" Another one asked her, and she turned to him with a frightened look on her face.

"No." She said, and stumbled toward JJ and Thomas, both of them grabbing her again and a car pulled up, Pandora at the wheel.

"Get in." Thomas said, opening a door, and she fell into the back seat. Thomas and JJ got in, as the bouncers crowded around her door.

"It's okay. They're my friends." She said weakly, and they backed off slightly.

Cook burst through the doors, a feral look on his face when he saw Naomi in the car with Pandora, Thomas and JJ.

"Naomi!" He called, and she shrank backwards as Pandora squealed and the car jerked forward.

She couldn't stop touching her hands to her neck, and looking at them completely bewildered.

"I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Thomas asked her, turning around, and JJ rummaged through a bag beside her, pulling out band aids and gauze.

"What the fuck. What the fuck." She whispered, staring at her hands. No. This wasn't. No.

Her heart stopped, she felt it, just for a moment, when Emily's face flashed before her eyes on the crowded dance floor as she'd been pulled away. Her mouth tinged with something dark, and her teeth… Jesus fuck, her teeth. That's what she'd seen, hadn't she?

Emily had fangs.

V^^^^^V


	5. Who Is The Lamb And Who Is The Knife

When she woke up she saw model airplanes suspended from a ceiling she'd never seen before. Her head hurt, and as she rolled onto her side, she heard a crinkling noise and felt something on her neck. She reached a hand up, still half asleep, and when she touched the bandages it all came rushing back.

Jesus fucking Christ.

She felt her heart thudding in her chest, and her eyes shot open. She thought, for a good few minutes, she was going to be sick. Violently. She sat up, clutching her stomach, and caught sight of three bodies in sleeping bags on the floor. She was breathing heavily, loudly. Her eyes were drawn to one of the walls in the bedroom she was in, and she frowned at it when she realised what it was.

It was a map, of sorts, with names scrawled all over it, in different colours, and a network of lines linking them all. Above the lines, words were written and scribbled out. She saw her own name, and threw back the blankets, getting out of the small single bed, and treading carefully over the sleeping bodies on the floor.

_Naomi_ was linked to _Pandora_ although the word _friend_ written above the line had a question mark next to it. The same was above the lines to _Thomas_ and _JJ_, and she felt slightly guilty as she reached out to run her hand over them. She traced another line from her name that led to _Emily_ and jerked her hand back when she realised her fingers had lingered over the letters. Above the line was written _friend or victim?_ and she frowned at it, stepping backwards and away from the wall. She cast her eyes over the other names, Cook's and Katie's, Effy's and Freddie's, the lines between them blurred as tears began to leak out of her eyes. She tripped on someone, falling to the ground, and starting to cry because she didn't know. Didn't know anything, any more, the least of all what she meant to anyone.

V^^^^^V

She remembered Pandora squealing and jerking the car forward, driving like a maniac as Cook had made as if to run after them. She thought she'd seen Effy behind him, holding his arm back, but she wasn't sure. She also thought she'd seen fucking fangs in Emily's mouth. But surely that had been the drugs. Fucking surely that wasn't real.

She'd held her hand to her neck, had tried not to cry when JJ delicately applied a bandage, even though, as he pointed out, the blood was already congealing around the wounds. She wanted to check her thigh, had an awful feeling she knew what the sharpness had been against it in the bathroom cubicle, but the very thought had brought back everything that happened in the tiny stall, and it made her stomach drop with sickness and heat, and she was still fucking high as anything and it was all too much.

Thomas had tried to talk to her, but once the bandage was on her neck she put her face in her hands and refused to look at anyone.

JJ had rambled about following her, because they were worried she'd been brainwashed, and had finally gotten the courage to intervene. She didn't know if he wanted a fucking congratulations or what, but she didn't acknowledge anything he'd said, only a slight nod when he suggested they all camp at his house on account of staying together.

She had woken them up when she'd tripped over Pandora, falling to the ground and bursting into tears, and Pandora had looked at her in alarm before crawling over and hugging her, awkwardly. JJ jumped up, mumbling something about blood levels and left the room, and Thomas had offered a kind hand to her shoulder, rubbing gently and softly singing a French song she didn't recognise.

"Here. It's full of vitamin C and excellent for blood loss as mum always makes me drink at least a litre when I donate." JJ thrust a juice bottle in her face, and Naomi just stared at it for a moment because, really. She saw Emily offering her the same with a guilty smile, and pushed Pandora off of her.

"I'm going to be sick." She stood up quickly, pushing past JJ and leaving the bedroom, completely lost because she didn't know where the bathroom was.

"Second door on the left." Thomas said behind her, and she lurched toward it.

As she vomited into the toilet, feeling her neck twinge with slight pain every time she did so, reminding her of whatever the fuck had happened the night before, she realised, to add insult to injury, that she wasn't wearing underwear. And she remembered why, couldn't get the whole thing out of her head for just a moment. Saw Emily moving downwards, felt Emily's tongue in her mouth and thigh between her legs, heard the ripping sound of her underwear, felt something sharp against her thigh even as Emily's fingers curled inside her.

Fuck. She was going to have a panic attack.

She rested her head against the toilet seat, reached up blindly until she found the flush button, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She was fucking hung over, and confused. The previous night felt like a dream, like it couldn't be real. If she wasn't in fucking JJ's house, because that had to be where she was, she would've written the whole thing off as a bad trip. She felt her neck bandage, and quickly pulled her skirt up, peering at the bit of skin that joined her groin to her thigh, and finding nothing. No marks, no bruises, no sign that skin had broken at all. She sighed in relief, because maybe that meant, maybe that was because, maybe this whole thing was…

She remembered, then, Emily rubbing her thumb over her neck after that first night they'd gone out. Rubbing away the raised bumps of what she'd thought was a hickey. Remembered Emily lingering over the area near her groin after she'd orgasmed, shook her head because the whole thing was ridiculous, and impossible, and there had to be a better explanation. Maybe someone had accidently cut her as Thomas and JJ had dragged her away? And maybe the light had caught Emily's teeth oddly, making them appear bigger than they were?

She took heaving breaths, standing and washing her hands in the sink. She stared at her own reflection, looked at the bandage, brought the edges of it back with trembling fingers, and examined the wound underneath. There were two slightly raised bumps, a small perfect hole in the middle of each, not too far apart. She hastily pressed the edges of the bandage back against her skin, and hurried back to JJ's bedroom.

"Naomi, are you alright?" JJ stepped forward, Pandora and Thomas giving her concerned looks.

"I want to go home." She hugged her arms around herself, couldn't look at any of them.

"Do you want to talk about it? Because my therapist is dead keen on talking through hardship, says it helps ease the pain and shock and if you'd like to, we'd all love to talk to you about it." JJ gave her an anxious smile, and she found herself staring at his braces for a moment, flashes of Emily entering her mind, but she pushed them away.

"I just want to go home." She murmured, and Thomas smiled at her.

"Of course. You need your own bed, your father. We will talk when you are ready. Please. Pandora, you can show her where the phone is?" He turned to Pandora, who looked at him slightly panicked.

"Bonkers! I have to call mum, promised her I was staying at Aunt Elizabeth's. She's probably gone mental! Come on, Nai." Pandora grabbed her by the arm, and led her out of the bedroom.

"My phone…" Naomi started, and then realised she'd left her jacket, and phone, and keys, and everything, in the car Effy had picked her up in the night before.

"You can call first." Pandora offered her, holding out the phone with a shy smile. "Don't worry, Nai. It gets easier."

Naomi stared at Pandora for a moment, before taking the phone and dialling her dad. She had no idea what she was going to say to him about her neck, or why she probably looked like absolute shit. But before he arrived, Pandora took her into the bathroom and helped her wash her face, and all three of them gave her a hug when her dad showed up, his smile halfway between delight and confusion.

"I thought you were out with Emily last night, sweetheart." He said as she buckled her seatbelt and squinted at the sunlight shining right into her bloody eyes.

"Change of plan." She just said, turning her head, and she felt his eyes on her neck.

"Something happen to you last night?" He asked, his voice concerned and a hand reaching over to gently touch her knee.

She forced herself to look at him, give him a smile. "Just an accident, we were playing twister and Pandora's nails are really long and…" She trailed off, shrugging as he mock winced.

They didn't talk after that, and when she got home she went straight to her bedroom and lay down, shutting her eyes and forcing herself to think of someone beating a drum, over and over, the steady rhythm making it easier to block everything out and fall to sleep.

She didn't dream, thankfully. Slipped into complete blackness, and only woke up because her dad was knocking gently on her door, and when she called for him to come in she saw her jacket in his hands. She sat up, her heart starting to race.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, and he just smiled.

"Your friend Emily dropped it off, said you'd left it in her car when she dropped you at JJ's house. Lovely girl, that." He gently put her jacket on her bed, and she stared at it.

"Emily was here?" Her voice cracked, and she hated that she wanted to run down the stairs in case she was still there.

"Said she couldn't stay long. I invited her in, the poor thing was just standing there in the rain, but she was in quite the rush." Her dad paused before leaving her room. "Naomi, are you alright? You're sleeping an awful lot today." His brow creased, and she wanted to roll her eyes at the concern on his face, because he had no bloody clue.

"Yeah, dad. Just had a busy week at college, catching up. You know." She watched him nod, and shut her door behind her, and she lunged at her jacket.

Her phone was in one of the pockets, her purse in another, cigarettes and lighter all there. She hated herself for it, but pulled her jacket to her nose and inhaled, the faintest trace of Emily lingering in the material. She felt herself starting to cry again, and shook her head, willing herself to pull it together.

She stared at her phone, a single message from Emily staring back at her. 'I'm so sorry. Please let me explain. I'll wait till you call me. It's not what you think.' and she scrolled through her phone book until she found Emily's name, her thumb hovering over the 'Call' button. She bit her lip, and threw her phone onto her bed.

She didn't believe in vampires. She didn't even believe in God. She was disinclined to believe in anything that didn't have a scientific explanation behind it. Yes, her neck had weird puncture marks in the exact bloody spot that Emily had been nuzzling. But that could've been enthusiasm, particularly since they'd just fucked in the bathroom and Emily hadn't, well, experienced any kind of release. Naomi shut her eyes as she remembered the orgasm, and Emily's tongue against her. No one had done that to her before, and she felt the slight stirrings of arousal as she remembered. Her eyes shot open. Fuck's sake, she had more to deal with right now.

She put her hands over her face, and took a deep breath.

Plus, she'd been on drugs, amazing drugs, and couldn't be certain that what she'd seen around Emily's mouth, or in her mouth, were actually real. Right? The lights were flashing, and there were loads of people around, and maybe it had been nothing? Thomas and JJ were the ones she should be angry at, filling her head with this shit. It wasn't real. It couldn't be.

She lay down on her back, staring at her ceiling, wishing it was night time so she could see the fake little stars on her ceiling.

They never ate anything. That was weird. It would've been weirder if any of them were overweight, though, she thought. They could all have some kind of eating disorder. That could explain it.

Fuck's sake, she thought, why was she even debating this? There was a rational explanation. Had to be.

She'd never seen any of them in sunlight. But so what? They went camping, right? And colleges let their students go camping whenever the sun shone all the fucking time, she thought and rolled over with a frown. And they all lived together in some kind of commune, and Chris had looked really young, her own age, but had graduated years before…

Well, fuck. Obviously he was some kind of child genius. Or had, as he said, good genes.

She'd never actually seen them take drugs, had she? Had swallowed her own, but never once seen any of them, particularly Emily, with a pill of their own. Had assumed they took them before giving her one, which was weird now she thought of it. The few times she had done pills in London, they'd all taken them at the same time to ensure they'd all hit together.

And, her stomach dropped, the sharpness in her mouth when things with Emily got too heated. Her lip had bled both times, and the first time Emily had moved so fast to the end of the bed, had moved so incredibly fast…

No, she thought, sitting up quickly. No. It was bloody impossible. She remembered Cook howling with laughter when she'd told them after JJ's birthday that someone thought they were vampires, remembered Pandora's pyjama party story. Emily's version had made sense. They just got out of control, and that was that. Cook was an aggressive lover, hence Pandora's bruises, and Pandora's mum probably hurt herself going to the bathroom or something.

It could all be explained. Had to be explained. She wished, for the first time, that they really were a sex cult because at least that didn't require her to have a mental breakdown. Well, not too much of one.

Later, she pushed her food around her plate, eating half-heartedly. Every time she chewed something, especially the steak, she had a flash of one of them against the neck of a stranger at a club. She'd seen them all do it over the weeks, hooking up with randoms, always the same aggressive neck kissing. Every single week.

Which, she thought, gently touching her fingers to the bandage against her neck, what the fuck did Emily do to her neck every week? And her hands, when Emily touched Naomi's knee, or arm, or neck, or anywhere, were always cool. Not cold, and not unpleasant, but just cool, while her own always became clammy and sweaty in the clubs, or sometimes while they slept.

Naomi excused herself after dinner, citing coursework responsibility, ignored her dad's concerned look and rushed upstairs to her room. She wanted to remember putting her head on Emily's chest, and hearing a heartbeat. Wanted to, but couldn't. Had that ever happened? As silly as it was, she was starting to become desperate for anything that pointed toward normalcy.

She threw herself on her bed, curling into a ball and screwing her eyes shut, jumping slightly when her phone started to buzz. She picked it up quickly, seeing Thomas' name on her screen.

"Hi." She said, putting an arm over eyes.

"Are you alright?"

She sighed. "Not sure, really. Can't seem to work it all out."

"It would be very hard."

"Yeah, well. Thanks for checking up on me." She rubbed her eyes for a moment, as she heard whispered voices on the other end, and a scuffling.

"Naomi, hi. I just wanted to put forward again that if you wanted to talk about things that could be very beneficial for you and I'm here, if you like, to listen because while I may talk a lot I'm also a very good listener and I would," She listened as he swallowed and sucked in a breath. "Listen to you."

"Thanks, JJ." She felt tears coming to her eyes again, and wondered when the fuck she'd become so emotional. "I just can't make sense of it."

"Of course, it's scientifically impossible."

She snorted. "Yeah. Listen, even if they are what you say they are. Aren't you worried they'll come after you?"

She heard JJ's voice crack just slightly. "Absolutely. However, they didn't when me and Thomas befriended Pandora after what they did to her, and if I look at it from a perspective other than fear, I think it would be silly of them to come after us because no one believes us anyway and I think that, since they're at college, they're trying to fit in or something and killing us would expose them quite a bit. I think so, anyway."

"Right." She said, sighing again, because she couldn't believe she was talking seriously about vampires with JJ, of all people.

"Of course, I'm bloody petrified hence Thomas and Pandora are staying at mine again. Luckily Pandora's aunt is more relaxed than her mother, or we'd get arrested for kidnapping or something."

She listened as JJ chuckled. "Why do you think it was me?" She asked softly, squeezing her eyes shut, hoping JJ understood what she meant and she wouldn't have to explain.

She heard JJ sigh, and then mumble the question to someone else. She heard shuffling, and then Thomas was back.

"I do not think it was anything you did. I think it was just unfortunate that they could get to you. They are very charming. Anyone would succumb."

Naomi opened her eyes. That wasn't the answer she expected, nor wanted, nor believed.

"Thanks. For everything. Even the apparent stalking." She half smiled at her ceiling, rolling her eyes at herself.

"You are welcome. Call us if you need company, or are in trouble. We will see you on Monday?"

She paused, then, biting her lip. The thought of college was awful.

"You're still going? Even if they're there?" She didn't want to, not one bit.

"Of course. There is nothing they can do to us there except call us names, and glare. And they do that anyway."

"Well, glad you're so calm about it. Bye, Thomas." She hung up, feeling slightly disappointed when she saw that Emily hadn't messaged her again. The thought made her feel sick. She didn't want to keep thinking of Emily, particularly with anything resembling fondness.

But what had happened in the bathroom, well. Even if Emily was some blood sucking creature from hell, she'd still had sex, with a girl, in a bathroom, and it had been the most incredible experience of her life. She hadn't known she could orgasm that hard, hadn't known she could feel that much from kissing someone. Hadn't known that she could want someone that badly.

It was decidedly unfair, she thought, that not only did she have to deal with possibly being a lesbian, but also the notion of freaking vampires as well.

V^^^^^V

On Monday she waved to her dad with a cheery smile as she left the house, Emily usually driving her to school these days, and only let it fall from her face when she'd locked the front gate behind her. She wasn't going to college. Couldn't stomach the idea. Had spent the previous day shut up in her room, sometimes staring at her phone, sometimes at her neck, wondering what the fuck she was meant to do.

She wanted to call Emily, but every time she went to she felt like she was going to have a panic attack, kept seeing her in the club with the fangs. Or big teeth. Or whatever they were. And blood on her mouth.

She almost called JJ the night before, wanting to talk to someone because she was driving herself crazy. But she didn't want confirmation that vampires actually existed, as he would try to convince her. Because he seemed to believe it. And she wanted to talk to someone who didn't, and who wouldn't look at her like she was crazy.

Which ruled out everyone, really.

She would call Emily. Eventually. As she walked down her street, wondering where she would go, she looked at the clouds overhead and couldn't help but wonder what would happen at college. Would Cook beat the shit out of Thomas and JJ, and Katie attack Pandora? Or would Cook, Katie, and even Emily, laugh at the three fucking vampire evading musketeers because of how ridiculous the whole thing was? And her. Would they be laughing at her because she, maybe, believed it too? Jesus, she thought, looking away from the sky. She didn't know which was worse.

She walked aimlessly, gripping her shoulder bag tightly against her. She wanted to go back to London, wanted her mother. Wanted the world she knew back because this one was making her bloody mental.

Every time a car drove by her, she glanced at it, half expecting Emily to find her, demand she get inside and tell her the whole thing was nonsense. But none of them stopped, none of them were recognisable. She was alone.

She kept walking, having no idea where she was going, nor even how long she'd been walking for. She saw a park, and thought, fuck it.

It was lovely, really, and there weren't many people in it. Some walking, some sitting on benches with newspapers and steam rising off the cups they held, almost all of them above the age of fifty. Naomi walked through it until she saw an empty bench under a large tree, and walked toward it, sitting down with a small sigh, closing her eyes and breathing in. Well, this was better than college, at least.

She turned her head, saw an elderly couple on a bench a little ways off. She felt the corners of her mouth lift slightly as she watched them. The woman had a knitted hat on her head, and was laughing and pointing at the tree above Naomi. Naomi could hear chirping, and wondered if the woman was laughing at birds. Which would have made her roll her eyes, but it was almost sweet, particularly since the woman kept nudging the man next to her, and he was doing his best to ignore her. He was holding a newspaper, his glasses painfully thick even from a distance. The woman was undeterred by his refusal to look at what was making her so happy, and after a while reached into the bag by her side and pulled out a sandwich, handing one half to the man who took it without looking at her. Naomi watched them as they ate, something in her chest squeezing when the man finished his sandwich and put a hand on the woman's knee, patting it as she leaned into his shoulder.

"Sweet, aren't they?" A voice said beside her, and Naomi turned quickly to see a girl standing near her, a smile on her face, long blonde hair moving with the breeze.

"Yeah, I suppose." Naomi replied, feeling slightly embarrassed that she'd been caught watching an elderly couple, because really.

"I've always wanted a love like that." The girl said, and Naomi frowned slightly.

"Like what?" She had no idea who this person was, and something was telling her to get up and walk away, or be rude enough so the girl would.

"That lasts." The girl shrugged slightly, looking at Naomi with wide open eyes. "May I sit with you?" She asked, and Naomi felt a tinge of annoyance. She wanted to be alone, wasn't that bloody obvious?

"I guess." Naomi shifted slightly, though there was more than enough room on the bench. The girl sat down happily.

"Do you like the park?" The girl was leaning forward, her hands resting on the edge of the seat, looking at Naomi over her shoulder.

"It's nice." Naomi said, grabbing her bag and deciding she would find somewhere else.

"I hope you don't mind me joining you. I didn't particularly feel like being alone." The girl shut her eyes as a strong breeze rustled the leaves above them, and made the ends of her hair dance around her shoulders.

Naomi shrugged, sighing. Fuck it, she thought. Maybe this would be a good distraction.

"You alright?" Naomi bit her lip, squinting slightly at the girl next to her, not really caring about the answer. But maybe she was a mental case, and fucked if she didn't feel like one at the moment too.

"Everything will be." The girl opened her eyes, looking sideways at Naomi. "You don't look alright." The girl shut her eyes again as another breeze blew past them.

Naomi thought she should feel offended, but she didn't. "No." She squinted at the sky, wondering if it was going to rain. "Things have turned to shit."

The girl opened her eyes, gazed at Naomi for a moment, and then smiled suddenly. "Oh, wow, that's sad for you."

Naomi frowned, wondering why the bloody hell the girl was smiling. "Right." She said, deciding again that she was going to leave. This girl was giving her the creeps.

"You should talk about it." The girl leant backwards, resting against the bench, and turned to Naomi expectantly. Naomi sighed, what the fuck, really?

"It's slightly unbelievable." Naomi glanced at the girl, and then rolled her eyes. "Completely, actually." She watched as the girl gave her a bright smile.

"Completely unbelievable is my favourite."

Naomi raised her eyebrows. "I'm talking science fiction, impossible stuff."

"Like Frankenstein?" The girl lifted her hands, moving them over the breeze, as if she was conducting an invisible orchestra. "Or extraterrestrials? I think they're lovely."

"What?" Naomi, despite herself, was intrigued. The girl was peculiar, but had something about her. Not that she found her attractive, or anything, because she might've had lesbian sex but it hadn't turned her into a raging bull dyke. Something about this girl calmed her, and she realised she hadn't thought specifically of Emily since the girl had sat down.

"Intelligent life existing on other planets. More advanced than us silly humans, experimenting on us like we do on rats. Knowing we're not the only ones responsible."

"Responsible for what?" Naomi was watching the girl as she stopped moving her hands, and looked back at Naomi.

"The universe." The girl smiled at her again, her eyes drifting shut and her face turning toward the sky. "I really like this park." She said, and Naomi felt something click as she thought this girl had to be on something. For some reason, the thought relaxed her.

Naomi chuckled. "I suppose so. Interesting way to look at it." Naomi leant back, shutting her eyes briefly too as another breeze blew against them.

"I think it's best to look at things from as many ways as possible. So you get every detail, and don't miss anything." When Naomi opened her eyes, the girl had tilted her head slightly and was gazing her. "There is always another side to a story."

Naomi looked away from the girl, feeling slightly creeped out again.

"Have you ever read Gregory Maguire?" The girl asked suddenly, and Naomi shook her head. "I love him. He writes fairytales from the perspective of the bad characters, and makes you realise they weren't so bad. Someone else just painted them that way."

"Right." Naomi mumbled, looking over to the other bench and watching as the old man helped the woman stand up, and they started to shuffle their way out of the park. As the man shakily opened an umbrella, Naomi realised it was starting to rain. "Fuck." She said, standing.

The girl blinked at the sky, smiling in the rain. "Perhaps I'll see you again?"

Naomi shrugged, walking quickly backwards. "Bye." She said, turning and starting to run, remembering she'd seen a bus shelter on her way and standing under it, shivering. When a bus pulled up, she got onto it, and only got off when it reached a strip of cafes and shops.

She sat in a cafe, sipping hot chocolate, her philosophy coursework spread out in front of her because, she thought, even if she wasn't going she didn't want to fall behind again. She kept thinking of the girl in the park though, and what she'd said. It was true, really. Emily deserved to have her side of the story heard. She scratched absently at the bandage on her neck, wincing when it hurt.

V^^^^^V

She called JJ instead, that night.

"How was today?" She asked, biting her lip harder than she meant and grimacing.

"Strangely normal, which wasn't to be expected but is awfully relieving."

She frowned. "They didn't say anything?"

"Oh well, Cook spouted the usual insults at me, and kept throwing paper at Pandora in philosophy, and at lunch time he was glaring at us quite strongly, but otherwise we evaded being killed or maimed in anyway."

She rolled her eyes as JJ chuckled, because this wasn't fucking funny.

"And Emily?" She asked tersely, waiting as JJ paused.

"She wasn't there today. Or Katie, for that matter, which was extra relieving for me."

She blew out a breath. Right. So Emily was avoiding her as much as she was avoiding Emily? If she wasn't a bloody vampire, why else bother? She felt a heaviness in her stomach, and closed her eyes.

"Will you be there tomorrow, Naomi? Or do you want to, well, talk about anything…"

She cut him off. "I don't know, JJ. And no, I don't want to talk about it. I don't even know what I'm meant to be talking about." She sighed.

"I can't imagine it's easy being in love with a vampire." He said softly, and for a moment she had no idea what to say.

"I have to go." She hated that her voice was shaky, and that his was strong.

"I hope to see you tomorrow."

"Bye, JJ." She hung up, heart thudding in her chest, and she wondered how much more of this she could take before she had a heart attack.

She wasn't in love with Emily. That was stupid. She'd had sex with her, really quite good sex actually, and couldn't get her out of her head. But that wasn't love. It wasn't love that she missed her so much she could hardly stand it, or that her heart beat impossibly fast at the thought of calling her. She touched her neck, the bandage off, and ran her fingers gently over the raised bumps. That, certainly, wasn't love.

That night she dreamt of the girl in the park, smiling at her softly and reaching toward her. The girl had someone else's arms wrapped around her, from behind, but Naomi couldn't make out who it was. The girl reached toward her, but Naomi couldn't bring herself to reach back.

V^^^^^V

She sat on the same bench in the park the next day not because she expected to see the girl again, but because she liked the view. Particularly liked that the old couple were back. This time the woman had a book, and the man was dozing next to her.

Naomi was smiling as she watched them, feeling at ease.

"Oh, wow, what happened to your neck?" The girl was seated on the bench beside her, and Naomi was slightly alarmed to realise she hadn't noticed her approach.

Naomi reached her fingers up quickly to touch the slightly raised bumps, and blushed. "I don't really know." Because she didn't.

"Is it painful?" The girl was staring at the marks.

"Sometimes." Naomi replied, thinking, in more ways than one.

"A dog bit me when I was very young, and I remember that hurting." The girl absently ran the fingers of one hand over the back of the other.

"Oh?" Naomi just said, rummaging through her bag and pulling out a sandwich. "Want half?" She asked, feeling her breath catch slightly because she really wanted the answer to be 'Yes'.

"Oh, wow, thanks." Said the girl, reaching for the half sandwich, and Naomi bit into her own, squinting at the elderly couple as they did the same. "Spencer. That was his name."

Naomi looked at the girl, chewing quickly and swallowing. "Pardon?"

"The dog that bit me. He was mine, and I was being too rough with him. So he bit me." The girl was playing with the sandwich in her hand, and after a moment Naomi looked away.

"I've never had a dog." She said, taking another bite.

"They're lovely, I think everyone should have one at least once." The girl smiled happily, her eyes drifting shut for a moment.

"Even though yours bit you?" Naomi raised an eyebrow, finishing her half sandwich and sipping from a bottle of water she'd remembered to bring.

"He didn't mean it. We were playing, and I was too rough, and he bit me by accident. I knew he felt terrible afterwards. I still loved him." The girl leant backwards, eyes opening, and Naomi realised the half sandwich was gone from her hands. She offered the water bottle, but the girl shook her head.

"Well, a dog doesn't really know any better." Naomi shrugged, looking back at the elderly couple as the man woke up, and opened a newspaper.

"You didn't tell me, yesterday, about the completely unbelievable something that's bothering you." The girl had shut her eyes again, and Naomi wondered for a moment why she kept doing that.

"Oh, well." Naomi took a deep breath. "Believe in vampires, by any chance?" Because the girl was loopy, anyway, so why the fuck not?

"Yes." The girl said, smiling and tilting her head toward the sky.

"Oh." Naomi said back, frowning because she hadn't expected that, or had at least expected more than that.

"Is that what bit you?" The girl was looking at her, blinking prettily.

"I don't know." Naomi replied, and her shoulders sagged. "There was this girl, at college, Emily," Naomi glanced sideways at the girl when she said Emily's name. "And I thought we were really good friends, and then, now, I don't know. I think she might've been, well, using me. But I also," Naomi sighed deeply, the girl smiling at her patiently. "Don't believe in vampires, so."

"So why be wary of something you don't believe in?" The girl raised her eyebrows, and Naomi frowned.

"Because I don't know what to believe." And it was true. The same thoughts had been rattling around her head for days, and she hadn't come to a solution, or at least one she could stomach.

"Tell me more about Emily. I think that name is lovely." The girl shut her eyes, lifting her face toward the sky and waited.

Naomi wasn't sure where to begin. "Well, she's very nice. Or I thought she was. She has this bright red hair, like really bright, but she pulls it off. And a freckle near her eye, on her cheek. I don't know why I like it so much, but I do. And sometimes, when she laughs, it makes everything else not matter." Naomi blushed, awfully, and shifted awkwardly on the bench.

"It sounds to me like you love her." The girl was smiling at the sky, and Naomi felt panicked for a moment. "The Beatles were right, you know."

Naomi frowned, annoyed that the girl kept wandering off during their conversations and she couldn't seem to follow. "I don't love her." Naomi said, her voice low, and she scoffed, embarrassed.

The girl looked at her after a moment, reaching her hand out to gently touch Naomi's knee. Her hand was cool, and Naomi shivered slightly, as a breeze blew up around them.

"There used to be something in me that made me hate everything." The girl shrugged, taking her hand away. "But then the sky opened up, and so did everything else, and I realised all you need is love. Everything else makes you rot inside." The girl pulled a face, but started smiling again.

Naomi floundered for a moment, and then stood. "Right, well, nice to talk to you again but I should go." She felt stupid, hating herself for opening up.

"Perhaps I'll see you again?" The girl had her eyes shut, was swaying slightly and humming.

Naomi didn't respond, walked away from the girl briskly, and everything she'd said to her. She caught the bus to the cafe again, spreading coursework in front of her, and frowning at it until she stopped thinking about her stupid declaration and could focus on it.

She was definitely not calling Emily that night. Or ever. Maybe. Particularly since she was definitely not in love with her, and resented that anyone thought so.

V^^^^^V

"I'm not in love with Emily." She said, instead of 'Hello.' when JJ picked his phone up that night, and she huffed out an exasperated breath.

"Oh, well then, if you say so Naomi, though it would be understandable particularly if you'd been brainwashed or something which, I believe, they do so you let them drink from you."

"Fuck's sake, who even says they exist at all? Why the fuck did you even intervene because I was happy, JJ, before you and bloody Thomas ruined everything!" She hung up on him, throwing her phone into the corner of her room, and then throwing herself onto her bed.

Again she dreamt of the girl that night, reaching toward her, with arms wrapped around her from behind. The arms were clutching the girl tightly, and Naomi thought she caught a glimpse of bright red hair over the girl's shoulder. But still, she didn't reach back.

V^^^^^V

The girl was waiting for her when Naomi walked over to the bench, and sat down without a word.

"They're not here today." The girl nodded toward the other bench, and Naomi felt a little disappointed that the elderly couple weren't sitting there, after all.

Naomi didn't say anything, just looked around the park, slipping her shoes off and running her feet through the grass.

"I believe in everything." The girl said softly, and began to hum again as Naomi sighed and then looked at her.

"Everything?" Naomi asked, because that was silly.

"Yes." The girl just said, slipping off her own shoes and scrunching her toes delightedly in the ground.

"Why?" Naomi frowned, curling her toes over blades of grass and trying to pull them out.

"Why not?" The girl responded, smiling at the sky. "I don't mind admitting that there are things beyond my comprehension. That the world is much bigger than me."

Naomi wanted to roll her eyes. "But some things are impossible." She muttered, her face lighting up when she saw the elderly couple shuffling slowly to the other bench, her arm through his.

"Is Emily, your Emily who you don't want to love, a vampire?" The girl was watching the couple too, her head tilted to the side.

"Allegedly." Naomi replied, watching as the couple sat themselves down and pulled a book and a newspaper out of a bag.

"Your neck looks better." The girl said, and Naomi nodded. There were just scabs on her neck now, the bumps gone, and it didn't really hurt anymore. "Have you talked to her?"

Naomi shook her head. "I can't. I don't know what to say." Naomi sighed, reaching into her bag for her sandwich, offering half to the girl, who took it.

"You could say, 'Are you a vampire?', and see what she says?" The girl was smiling coyly, playing with the sandwich, and Naomi rolled her eyes, biting into her own.

"And she could say, 'Are you crazy?', and laugh in my face." Naomi chewed, squinting at the sky.

"Is that a bad response?" The girl asked, shifting herself back until her legs could swing back and forth over the edge of the bench.

"Well, not really I suppose. Better than, 'Yes, prepare to die.'" Naomi snorted, feeling lighter than she had in days.

"Better than constantly wondering." The girl said softly, jumping up when Naomi looked at her and tumbling onto the grass. The girl lay on her back, her arms behind her head, and her eyes closed. "Can I ask you a question?" The girl squinted at her for a moment, and Naomi shrugged, finishing her sandwich, wondering when the girl had finished hers. "If your Emily is a vampire, and wants to kill you, why didn't she when she had the chance?" The girl started to hum softly again, and Naomi frowned, taking longer to drink from her bottled water than she needed.

"So what, you're saying that she isn't a vampire, and I'm just stupid?" Naomi put her water in her bag, feeling entirely stupid because that question hadn't entered her head once.

"Maybe." The girl said. "Maybe I'm saying she is a vampire, but doesn't actually mean you harm. She sounds lovely. She doesn't sound like a killer. And she could've, at any time since you've known her, any night you'd gone out with her, any of them could've killed you. Easily." The girl was staring at her now, a smile on her face, her eyes wide and intense.

Naomi felt her blood run cold. "I didn't tell you any of that." She hurriedly put her water in her bag as the girl shrugged.

"You don't have to tell someone something for them to know it, Naomi." The girl gazed at her calmly. "Oh, wow." She said softly, as Naomi realised she hadn't told the girl her name.

"Fuck." Naomi said, standing. "Who are you?" She felt her breath hitch, felt her heart starting to hammer in her chest.

The girl stood gracefully, her head tilted, a delighted smile on her face. "My name is Cassie, and I'm ever so enchanted to meet you." The girl stuck her hand out, and Naomi recoiled from it.

"But, but you ate my sandwich." Which was pathetic to say, but she didn't know what else she could say.

"Did I?" Cassie said back, laughing and clapping her hands together. Naomi frowned, looking at the bench, seeing bits of white between the bench slats, the sandwich halves on the ground beneath the tree.

Naomi ran, then, feeling stupidity and anger licking at her heels, and tears in her eyes. She ran the entire way home, her dad reaching for her in alarm when she burst through the front door, and she was grateful that he just held her, and waited till she had calmed down to ask any questions.

"Naomi, sweetheart, what's wrong?" He stroked her hair, and she clung to him tightly.

"I hate it here." She sobbed into his shoulder, and he sighed.

"Oh love, I thought you were doing so well."

She breathed in the smell of him, trying to calm herself down, letting the feeling of his hand against her hair ground her.

"I'm not." She mumbled, feeling childish.

"Why don't I make us a cup of tea, and you can tell me why you're home so early, ey?" He pulled back from her, giving her a small smile, and she nodded.

He went to make the tea, and she slumped onto the lounge, breathing deeply. When he brought a tray in a bit later, smiling at her kindly, she barely managed to smile back at him. How could she tell him any of it?

"Friend troubles, is it?" He asked kindly, pouring them both a cup, and she saw a plate of the short bread biscuits that had been her favourite as a child, and wanted to cry all over again.

"You could say that." She took the cup of tea, breathed in the scent of it, reaching for a biscuit.

"Well, I'm sure whatever it is it will work out?" He sipped his own tea, looking at her, she realised, slightly fearfully under his kind smile. She realised the last time he'd seen her cry was when she was a small child.

"Why did you leave mum?" She asked, suddenly, and he blanched.

"Oh well, we didn't." He sighed, putting his cup down. "We didn't get along so well, after a while. We were different, your mum and I. She's very." He sighed again, rubbing his eyes with one hand. "She didn't want to be tied down. And she, I didn't leave her, sweetheart." He reached a hand to her knee, squeezing after a minute. "She left me, took you with her, broke my heart." Naomi was alarmed to see tears in his eyes.

"Dad…" She started, but he sniffed quickly and squeezed her leg again, shaking his head.

"She's your mother, Naomi. I know that. The woman I married, and your mum, well, they're different people, and I won't pretend to know them both." He gave her a small smile. "I tried to find you, but she moved around so much that, well, it was nearly impossible. And when she called me," He turned to her. "Asking if I'd mind if you stayed with me while you finished college, if I'd make sure you were alright cos she didn't think you were happy with her, well, I don't think I've been that happy, love, since the day you were born." He squeezed her leg, again, and she put her hand over his. "But if you're unhappy here, I'll do whatever I can to help you, you have to know that."

She took a deep breath, and nodded at him. "I'm not unhappy. Just. I'm a bit confused at the moment."

He nodded, pulling his hand back and reaching for his tea. "You're not, uh, pregnant are you, love?"

She nearly spat her tea out in shock. "Jesus. No." She almost wanted to laugh at the relief on his face. "No, Dad, not pregnant."

He sighed deeply, chuckling himself after a moment. "Well, whatever it is, it can't be that bad then, can it?" As he smiled at her, looking into her eyes with kindness, she wondered if that was true.

That night, she dreamt Cassie was standing in front of her again, smiling and reaching her hand out, and there were arms wrapped around her from behind. Over Cassie's shoulder, she could see bright red hair, and Cassie turned slightly, and there was Emily. Emily had her face against Cassie's back, her arms around Cassie's waist, squeezing her tightly, her eyes shut.

She watched as a tear leaked out from Emily's eye, slipping down her cheek, and Naomi reached forward suddenly, taking Cassie's hand.

V^^^^^V

Naomi held her head up high when she sat down on the bench, not completely surprised to see Emily sitting there waiting for her. Emily had made a move as if to stand up when Naomi approached, but had seemed to stop herself.

"Cassie's interesting." Naomi said, looking out across the park, seeing the elderly couple chatting and laughing together on the other bench.

"That wasn't my idea." Emily replied softly, and Naomi felt Emily's eyes on her. "Your neck is healing really well."

"Fuck you." Naomi frowned, reaching up to touch her neck, and seeing Emily flinch out of the corner of her eye.

"I deserve that." Emily murmured, sitting as far from Naomi on the bench as was possible.

"So. Vampires." Naomi sat a little straighter, turning to glare at Emily. "Are you fucking kidding me?" She couldn't control her voice, how angry and bewildered she sounded.

Emily licked her lips, giving her an awfully sheepish grin. "I wanted to tell you." She shut her eyes for a moment. "But how the fuck do you tell someone you're interested in that you're a, well, monster?"

Naomi rolled her eyes. "I don't know, but you fucking do it before like, feeding off them, or whatever. Seriously Emily. That's fucked up." Naomi angrily reached into her bag, pulling out a packet of cigarettes. "Do you want one?" She asked tersely, lighting her own, and Emily shook her head.

"We only smoke them so it looks like we're breathing." Emily looked at her beseechingly, and Naomi thought she was going to be ill again.

"Jesus Christ, this is real isn't it?" She blew out the smoke, reaching her other hand up to rub her eyes.

"It wasn't just about feeding off you, okay? You have to know that." Emily had shifted closer to her, and Naomi frowned, shifting further away.

"I don't know that. I don't know anything." Naomi felt her stomach drop, suddenly. "Is that why I was always so fucking hung over, then? Because of you?" She glared at Emily, feeling so much anger she didn't know what to do with herself.

Emily shut her eyes. "Yes." She said simply. "That first night you came out with us, was meant to be the only night. I liked you, I wanted to try you." Emily flinched as Naomi swore next to her.

"Fucking Jesus, Emily."

"I know. Just, please listen. It's a give and take, okay? It's how we avoid killing people. Give them drugs, feed off them a bit, let them go, and it all boils down to a hang over and no one gets hurt." Emily licked her lips again, gazing out over the park, glancing at Naomi every now and again.

"You don't think this hurt?" Naomi pointed to her neck, felt stupid because her voice was wavering and there were tears starting to form in her eyes again.

"I'm addicted to you." Emily whispered desperately, moving closer to Naomi. "I can't get enough of you. Do you know that?" Emily reached out, stopping just short of touching Naomi's knee.

Naomi felt her breath catch, torn between anger and reciprocity. "You fucking used me." She said, sucking on her cigarette and struggling to compose herself. "And you don't even bloody exist!" She stubbed her cigarette out on the bench, turning to Emily. "And you fucked me in a bathroom stall."

Emily flinched. "I didn't mean to use you." Naomi jerked her head away when Emily gently touched her fingers to her hair. "I'm so sorry." She said, licking her lips again.

Naomi shut her eyes. They were only words, but they meant something. "What do you want from me?" She whispered, turning to stare at Emily, her eyes hurt and pleading with her not to lie this time.

Emily gazed back steadily, without blinking, licking her lips. "Just you. I want you."

Naomi felt herself shudder, felt Emily take hold of her hand and squeeze.

"Be brave, Naomi, and want me back."

V^^^^^V


	6. A Girl So In Love With The Wrong World

She woke up, frowning for just a moment when she realised she didn't feel sick, or nervous. She'd become so used to dreading being awake, that it was more disconcerting, at first, to feel so light, than it was relieving. She stretched, kicking the covers off her legs and opened her eyes.

Vampires existed, apparently. Emily's confirmation meant she wasn't driving herself crazy wondering about it anymore, and she realised after a moment lost in thought that she should probably be a lot more freaked out than she was.

But, she thought sitting up, confirmation was a lovely thing sometimes, if only because it meant she wasn't so bloody confused anymore.

She stood up, stretching her back, arms over her head, and actually smiled. Because, vampires! Of all the fucking likelihoods, that wasn't one of them. Ever. And, if Emily was an example, they weren't nearly as scary as she'd been lead to believe.

She skipped down the stairs after showering and getting changed, kissing her dad on his cheek as she passed him.

"Morning!" She called, grabbing a piece of bread and throwing a glass of juice down her throat.

"Morning!" Her dad sounded more surprised than anything else. "Everything sorted, then?" He paused, on his way to the back garden, raising his eyebrows at her happily.

She chewed the piece of bread thoughtfully for a moment before nodding, reaching for a jar of jam and then jumping slightly as she caught a glance of the watch on her wrist.

"Shit, I'm going to miss the bus." She said, dropping the piece of bread on the bench and grabbing her bag off the kitchen table. "Bye!" She hastily kissed her dad on the cheek again, and rolled her eyes when he touched the place she'd kissed with a look of something resembling wonderment on his face.

"Sure you don't want a lift?" He called after her, but she was already out of the front door. She could make her own way to college, catching a bus wasn't that hard.

She'd texted JJ asking him to meet her when she got off the bus, and he stood waiting for her looking somewhat contrite. Last time she'd spoken to him she'd yelled at him, but that had been days ago. Days ago, she hated everything. But not today.

"Hey JJ!" She gave him such a smile that he took a step backwards as if in shock.

"Naomi! Hello. You're marginally happier than I think I've seen you ever, which is wonderful because I'm hoping it means you're not angry with me anymore?" He gripped the straps of his bag, looking at her hopefully.

"Oh, well, that. Not angry, no JJ." She nudged him as they walked toward the college, noticing him falter slightly when he saw Emily waiting outside. "It's alright." She told him, as Emily nervously approached.

"Hi." Emily said, Naomi noticed, more to JJ than herself.

"Hello. Hi. Bonjour. Vampire. Fangs." He stammered, and then squinted his eyes shut. "Stupid. Imbecile. Death. Misery." He slapped his own face then, though not that hard, turning to Naomi and opening his eyes in alarm.

Naomi raised her eyebrows when Emily stepped forward, reaching a hand out and touching JJ on the arm, which made him sharply suck in a breath.

"Are you alright?" She asked, smirking slightly, gazing into his eyes when he turned to her, his eyes wide and his back stiff.

"I'm Emily." Emily twisted to face her then, sticking a hand out, blinking at her prettily.

"Naomi. So pleased to meet you for the first time." She couldn't help it, she smirked, and then shook Emily's hand. She nudged JJ as he glanced between them, turning quickly one way and then the other.

"Come on, boy wonder." She grabbed his elbow, dragging him away from Emily, who gave her a small wave and continued to wait outside, as if for someone else.

"What just happened? Please tell me it was something planned or else I'll most definitely be convinced that I slipped through a hole in the fabric of space time and am not in the universe I was actually born in." He kept his eyes staring ahead of him, his back still tight as they walked, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

"Just something Emily and I agreed on, alright?" She stopped him walking, turning to look at him intently, placing a hand on his arm. "On account of this whole mess being because of us, yeah?" She squinted slightly, waiting as he processed what she'd told him.

"Right. So. Vampire business is shtum. Nada. Not going to talk about it?" He looked at her dubiously, and she nodded.

"Right. They'll leave us alone, we'll leave them alone. End of story." She gave him a small smile when he eventually nodded, and she hoped, more than anything, Thomas and Pandora would be as agreeable.

V^^^^^V

"I don't know if I can." Naomi had answered the day before, as Emily gripped her hand and pleaded with her to forgive her, to want her.

"I'm so sorry, you have to believe that." Emily whispered back, her hold loosening and her thumb beginning to rub against the back of Naomi's hand.

"Was the whole thing, was everything, just for my blood or whatever?" Naomi turned her face away, looking at the elderly couple on the other bench, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"No." Emily reached out, turning Naomi's chin with her hand. "I'm still Emily. I'm just, also, something else."

"Right." Naomi lowered her eyes, looking at their still joined hands.

"Naomi, I really like you. I've always really liked you. I just got carried away, I didn't think." Emily continued the gentle movement of her thumb, and Naomi closed her eyes.

"Cassie pointed out, among other bloody obscurities, that you could've killed me. But," Naomi bit her lip, looking up into Emily's eyes. "You didn't."

Emily licked her lips. "It's never been about killing you."

"So, what then? Help me understand because I'm drowning here."

Emily gazed at her. "There's something about you that just fucking intoxicates me. I want to be around you. I want to talk to you, because you make me laugh. I want, I wanted to kiss you. I want to kiss you now." Emily blinked, and Naomi was grateful she didn't lean forward because she didn't think she could pull herself away if Emily kissed her.

"Well." She said, gently pulling her hand away from Emily's, but smiling at her all the same. "Excuse me if I'm completely overwhelmed. And hesitant. And," She narrowed her eyes. "Fucking wary." Emily nodded , looking out into the park. "Besides, JJ thinks Cook is going to kill him." She glanced at Emily, and Emily winced.

"I talked him down." She muttered, and Naomi blinked because, vampires, right. "Katie thinks I should just kill you and be done with it."

Naomi thought her eyebrows had shot up so high, and fast, that they'd gone into orbit. "What?" Her neck popped as her head turned suddenly, and her face blush when Emily gave her a sheepish grin.

"Fuck, not funny is it? Sorry. Death becomes a bit, er, lighter when you don't have to worry about it." Emily shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what to do here." Emily gazed out, looking at the elderly couple, flinching slightly. "I mean, we'll never be them. I'll never be like them. But, you will."

Naomi swallowed thickly, feeling her chest tighten with anxiety. "Jesus, I'm still a teenager, yeah? And you're talking about, like, marriage. Lesbian marriage. And I'm not, I'm not," Naomi gestured aimlessly, unable to finish.

"No, I didn't mean. Like, that. I just meant, in general. Fuck." Emily shook her head, looking away for a moment. "I don't know what I mean."

"So you're actually immortal?" Naomi felt small parts of her mind exploding, but it wasn't like the whole thing hadn't gone into nuclear meltdown already.

"Yes." Emily looked at her.

"And you're at college?" Naomi raised her eyebrow dubiously, because, really.

Emily snorted. "Tony's idea." She mumbled, looking away again. "He thinks if we learn about, you know, the world now we can fit in better. Live in it better." Emily snorted again. "Well, not 'live' but, you know what I mean."

Naomi realised, with only slight alarm, that she should've completely lost her mind by now. "Jesus." She whispered, more to herself than Emily. "Why bother?" Naomi turned to Emily, everything depending, she thought, on the answer.

"I don't want to be a killer." Emily shrugged a little helplessly. "Katie doesn't want to be without me, neither does Cook. Besides," Emily gave her a half smile. "Him and Freddie pretty much do what Effy does, and Effy, I think more than anything, was bored."

"I can't even begin to wrap my head around this." Naomi sighed. "No more lies, Emily. About anything."

"Thank you, Naomi. Thank you." Emily reached forward, seeming to ignore that Naomi froze when she hugged her.

"For what, exactly?" Naomi felt her heart racing, because Emily was still a fucking vampire.

"Seeing me, and not the monster." Emily smiled at her, beautifully, and Naomi snorted, trying not to blush.

"Well, as people keep pointing out, you could kill me if you wanted so, you know." She shrugged, shaking her head because it was still all so unbelievable. "This is so fucked up." She reached over and squeezed Emily's hand lightly. "I have no clue what we do about college. It's a right mess."

It was obvious, though, after a little while. Emily had recounted that everything had been slightly less than boring before Naomi had arrived and she'd wanted to befriend her, which made Naomi snort because fucking in bathroom stalls was hardly befriending. Though she decided against pointing that out. Naomi had suggested that, maybe, they would just have to leave it, and Emily had looked at her so crestfallen that she'd quickly amended that she meant at college.

"I don't want to lose you." Emily licked her lips, and Naomi found herself staring. And then remembered, fuck, vampire.

"I can't go back to how things were though." Naomi said softly, looking away when Emily looked at her sadly. "I just, I don't know. Slowly. Okay?"

"Can we just, I don't know, start again?"

And that had been that, really. Naomi had left not too long after, Emily looking like she wanted to hug her again, or something, but thankfully holding herself back.

When Naomi had gotten home, she'd felt so relieved that she kept wondering, at points during the night when her mind wandered, wasn't she meant to be worrying about something? But, strangely, mythical monsters aside, she found that she wasn't anymore.

V^^^^^V

"I was sure you weren't coming back!" Pandora hugged her excitedly at lunch, being unable to during philosophy and having to run off after. "It's whizzer you're back though! And sitting with us!" Pandora hugged her again, and Naomi awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Yes well, drama aside, I'm feeling better thanks." She sat down next to Thomas, who gave her a kind smile.

"Would you care to study with us this weekend? You have missed much in class, yes?" He took a bite of a sandwich, and Naomi realised she'd grown so used to not eating at college that she was startled to see someone doing it. She had a sudden, awful, urge to look for Emily, but didn't.

"I'd love to." She smiled, because it wasn't like she had other plans.

She sat next to Emily in politics, her heart beating slightly fast, and she realised she was nervous. And it wasn't, she thought wanting to roll her eyes at herself, because Emily was a demon from hell, or whatever, but because the girl was so close. She was mental, she thought, because for fuck's sake she was missing the point. Or was she?

Emily gave her a small smile, and then ignored her for the rest of the lesson, only saying "Bye." at the end of it and getting up.

"Bye." Naomi said back, watching as Emily grabbed Katie, who was glaring at her so strongly she thought back to what Emily had said about Katie wanting to kill her, and blinked.

Effy gave her a small wave, and Cook looked at her blankly for a moment, before shrugging at her slightly, and following Effy and the twins out of the room.

"Just, so you know, I'm sorry too." Freddie said, hands bunched in his pockets, and shoulders shrugging as she turned to look at him, having forgotten he was there. "But also, so you know, none of us wanted to hurt you, yeah?" He gazed at her from beneath his fringe, and she knew she looked as startled as she felt.

"Thanks." She said, after a moment. "Don't know if you're right about Katie, though." She picked her bag up as he ambled toward the door, turning after a moment, and giving her a half smile.

"We'll keep her in check." Freddie raised his eyebrows at her quickly, before disappearing, and she fell back slightly against a desk and took a deep breath. Vampires existed, one wanted to kiss her and another probably wanted to kill her.

Jesus fucking Christ, she thought, because really.

V^^^^^V

She heard a knock on her front door later that day, and was slightly surprised when her dad called out to her.

"Naomi, someone here for you!"

She made her way down stairs, feeling her heart rate picking up dramatically as she hesitantly pulled the front door open and peeked outside. Emily was standing there, looking up at the sky, smiling at her shyly when she noticed Naomi.

"Hi." Emily said, and Naomi leant against her front door.

"Hi." Naomi felt decidedly unsure what Emily was there for, but was relieved enough that at least it wasn't Katie in a high necked cape and monster fangs ready to pounce on her.

"I just wanted to see if you were free at all over the weekend and wanted to maybe do something." Emily raised an eyebrow at her, and Naomi blinked. "Not go clubbing, obviously." Emily said quickly, and Naomi wondered if Emily would be blushing if she, well, could. "But I thought perhaps we could have dinner and talk. Or something?" Emily looked at her expectantly, and Naomi blinked again. "Or well, I could watch you eat dinner. And we could talk. Because obviously you don't want to watch me eat, and." Emily licked her lips suddenly, rolling her eyes. "Fuck's sake."

Naomi snorted, suddenly. "You're an immortal demon and I make you nervous?"

"In a nutshell." Emily muttered. "Please go out with me, just me?" Emily shifted from one foot to another, and Naomi frowned slightly. "I'll still ignore you at college, or at least pretend I don't know you so well, but you said it only had to be at college, so…" Emily trailed off, watching Naomi intently.

"I did say that." It wasn't everyday, Naomi thought, that a vampire was so desperate to be friends with her. "Alright." She took a breath, glancing to the side of her for a moment. "In public though, sans drugs. Tomorrow night. Studying tonight with the three musketeers."

Emily gave her a relieved smile. "Great. I'll pick you up at seven. Is that good?"

Naomi nodded, as Emily walked backwards smiling, only turning when she'd reached the front gate.

Studying meant, Naomi was slightly surprised to figure out, actually studying, which she hadn't done in a group situation ever. Pandora brought up vampires only once, and both JJ and Thomas had looked at her sharply, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

Later, she stared up at her ceiling, at the faded stars, feeling dangerous and excited because she hadn't told them about her date with Emily, and wouldn't. Not that it was a date, not a real one clearly, because yes they'd had sex but she'd been on drugs then. And maybe she'd wanted it, but that was before she knew what was going on. Or half knew, because she was fucked if she didn't have a thousand questions rattling around in her head. She wondered if she should make a list of everything she wanted to ask about, hoping Emily would keep her promise and not lie to her.

V^^^^^V

"Do you like Italian?" Emily asked her, parking outside a restaurant, and Naomi fidgeted with her skirt, realising it was the same one she'd been wearing the last time they'd, well, in any case she was glad to be wearing underwear this time.

"Isn't garlic your mortal enemy?" Naomi replied, unbuckling her seatbelt, and Emily smiled ruefully.

"No." She just said.

A smiling waiter seated them near the window, and Naomi felt awkward as her stomach rumbled loudly. She ordered pasta, and Emily surprised her by ordering a salad.

"Garden salad made from blood these days?" Naomi quirked an eyebrow, willing herself not to become flirtatious, because that wasn't what this was about.

"Keeping up appearances." Emily quirked an eyebrow back. "How are things, then?" She asked, leaning forward on her arms, and smiling at her happily.

Naomi snorted, crossing her arms. "Bit boring, in comparison." She leaned forward, after a moment, unintentionally mirroring Emily's pose. "How are things at casa de bloodsucker?" She felt like laughing as Emily blinked, as if surprised that she was joking about it. But what else was there, at this point?

"Strained, actually." Emily played with her fork for a moment, before looking back at Naomi. "But whatever, right?"

Naomi frowned slightly, for the first time wondering that her and Emily, whatever they were, would have an adverse affect on Emily's life, or whatever it was, too.

"What do you mean?"

A waiter deposited garlic bread on their table, followed by chilled glasses of water, and Naomi sipped from hers as Emily broke off a small piece of bread, putting it on her plate, and then ignoring it.

"Katie isn't happy." Emily lifted the glass of water for a moment, holding it in front of her face. "Not just about you, about the whole college thing. She hasn't been for a while, I think she's only sticking it out because I'm adamant about seeing it through." Emily put her glass of water down, and Naomi blinked at how good Emily was at 'keeping up appearances'.

"Because it's a bit redundant, being that you're well, immortal and not exactly needing a career?" Naomi raised her eyebrows, chewing slowly on some bread, subconsciously keeping pace with Emily's movements and helping with the deception of her eating. She realised, after a moment, that she was doing it, and was slightly startled to realise she didn't mind.

"I keep telling her, actually, that you two would get along if she wasn't so opposed to, well, people." Emily smirked, as Naomi raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "No, really. You're not that unalike." Emily frowned slightly. "Obviously enough that I want to shag you."

Naomi choked on the piece of bread she was swallowing, sipping the water quickly. "Emily." She said, though had no idea what to follow that with. A waiter appeared with their food, and Emily looked slightly relieved.

She ate her pasta, watching as Emily swirled her fork through the salad, spearing a piece of tomato and raising it to her lips.

"Anyway, Katie thinks we should cut our losses and disappear. Leave the country for a bit, go back to how things were." Emily shrugged, putting her fork back in her salad and using a knife to move the tomato off it, spearing a piece of cucumber instead, repeating the action as she talked.

"And how were things?" Naomi asked, swallowing a mouthful of pasta and sipping more water. Emily gave her a dark look, and put her cutlery down.

"You don't want to know." Emily paused, before picking her cutlery back up. "I actually love pretending to eat." She grinned, though it didn't meet her eyes when she looked at Naomi. "We don't do it at college because Katie thinks it's stupid, and last time Cook pretended he went overboard, poured a beer over his head and ruined someone's birthday cake."

Naomi lifted a fork full of pasta to her mouth, and then frowned slightly. "I'm going to assume that if I don't want to know, you did worse things to people than what you did to me?" She said it softly, watching as Emily looked away from her for a moment.

"Can we not talk about it?" She asked, softly. "Can we just stay like this, for a bit?"

Naomi sighed, eating more pasta, chewing slowly and swallowing. "For a bit." She said, and Emily gave her a grateful smile. "But I don't want lies, Emily."

Emily nodded. "I don't want to lie, I'd just rather you, well, weren't eating when I tell you the kinds of things we used to do before we, or I really, started to care."

Emily paid for her dinner later, waving her off when she tried to stop her.

"We have more money than we need." Emily said, and Naomi just blinked.

They walked outside, and Naomi hugged herself. "So, what now?" She asked, not entirely wanting their time together to end just yet.

"You could come to the house, if you like. No one will be there. They'll all be out." Emily raised her eyebrows, and Naomi just looked at her.

"Not that I'm not intrigued, and vaguely desperate to see it, but no. I don't think so." Naomi watched as Emily nodded, looking embarrassed. "Slowly, remember?" She murmured. "Dad has his girlfriend at ours." She shrugged.

"What about the park? I think there's a blanket in the back of the car…" Emily licked her lips, gazing at her openly, and Naomi had the impression that Emily was willing her to trust her.

"I don't know." She said, hugging herself tighter. Emily gently took one of her hands, unfolding her arm from around her body.

"I'll answer anything." She said, her voice low, raising her eyes and looking into Naomi's. "And I promise that I will never, ever, like ever, feed off you without your permission. Again."

Naomi took a deep breath, feeling slightly irritated and wanting to point out that there would never be permission to give, actually, when a car drove past them and a man honked his horn and wolf whistled from inside it.

"Fucking hell I hate people." She muttered, as Emily smirked. "Fuck it." She said, and Emily cocked her eyebrow for a moment. "What?" She asked, but Emily just shook her head.

"I just keep thinking how well you'd get along with us, that's all." And led her back to the car, Naomi wondering exactly what Emily meant by that.

As they walked into the park, a blanket tucked under Emily's arm, Naomi looked up at the stars and smiled. They didn't go to her bench, instead choosing a patch of grass far from the trees and lying down on it, side by side, close but not touching.

"There's something about stars that calms me." Naomi murmured, feeling her cheeks flush slightly, which they always seemed to when she felt herself opening up.

"I've wanted to lie next to you under them since I first saw your ceiling. I used to look at your stars, and think of doing this as you slept." Emily's voice rasped, just above a whisper, and Naomi glanced at her.

"You didn't sleep?" She asked, turning her face back toward the sky and feeling alarmed because that was a bit creepy. As far as she knew, no one had ever watched her sleep before.

"We don't sleep. Ever." She heard Emily shift slightly next to her. "I didn't like, stare at you or anything. Sometimes I read your books, by the moonlight, or stared out of your window." She realised their shoulders were touching lightly as she felt Emily shrug.

"Right." She just said. "So why don't you come to college when the sun is out?" She might as well get down to it, anyway.

"It hurts us. The sun. Burns right through us, takes fucking ages to heal. It's a bit awful."

"So vampirism is like an extreme form of being albino?" Naomi snorted as Emily chuckled. "So that part is true, then."

Emily made a noise of agreement next to her. Naomi stared at the sky for a little while, feeling her chest swell but also feeling small and unimportant at the same time.

"What were you like before this?" She felt the question leave her lips, was slightly shocked because her mind had wondered to other things, staring at the sky, like Cassie's love for extraterrestrials.

"Monsters." Emily whispered, and she sat up after a moment, turning to cross her legs, and Naomi did the same. "Killed people, had fun doing it." Emily's fingers played with the blanket, and Naomi just looked at her. "Cook and me, we used to do it together a lot. Go after girls together, get fucked up."

Naomi frowned. "What?"

Emily licked her lips. "When we feed off people who are drugged out of their heads, it affects us too. Half the reason we do it, other than people being a bit more willing and unfocused." Naomi absently rubbed a hand to the side of her neck, the scabs having fallen off, feeling only the ghost of Emily's teeth marks. "And Cook and me, well, went all out for a while there. I mean, before that it was just Katie. We did everything together, even dumped bodies at the same time until we realised that we drew too much attention, being twins, and we couldn't stay at the same place for long. Plus, Effy started hanging round with us again, and Katie and Effy. Well, they had more fun together. And Effy had Cook tagging along with her, and him and I just sort of clicked." Emily shrugged again, looking briefly at the sky.

Naomi wanted to ask how old Emily was, but half dreaded the answer, wondering if she could stomach it. "Why does Katie not like me?" She asked instead, watching as Emily tilted her head down and looked at her.

"She thinks you compromise us. She hates people, well, mortal people." Emily licked her lips, fidgeting for a second. "And she can hear what you think about me." Emily muttered, turning her head away as Naomi screwed her face up.

"What?" She asked, because seriously. What?

"Katie can hear what you think." Emily repeated, squirming slightly. Naomi felt ill.

"What the fuck?" She asked. "Can you as well?" She felt violated, all over again. Felt sudden anger hotly in the back of her throat, and something stronger in her stomach that felt a lot like hurt.

"No!" Emily shook her head, reaching out to touch Naomi's leg. "No, that's just Katie."

"Right." Naomi took a breath, her heart beating hard against her chest. "So what can you do, then?" She crossed her arms, sure she wouldn't like the answer.

Emily licked her lips, looking quickly at the sky. Naomi couldn't make out much, in the dark, just the shape of her, and her eyes, and her teeth when she talked.

"We can all do something. Something else, that helps us when we, well, feed I guess." Emily shrugged, and then threw herself down on the blanket again, lying on her back and rubbing her hands over her eyes for a few moments. "Freddie makes people fall in love with him." She said, taking her hands away, and Naomi felt her stomach drop. "Like, anyone he wants. Doesn't matter if he's being a cunt, or the most boring twat that ever lived, people will fall in love with him. Absolutely any mortal he wants."

Naomi gasped. "Is that what you…" She started, thinking she might vomit or kick Emily if the answer was yes. Vampire or not.

"Fuck no." Emily answered. "No one falls in love with me unless they want to."

Naomi felt her eyes close in relief, and she lay down slowly, next to Emily, but left a space between them. A breeze blew through the park, faint music coming from somewhere Naomi couldn't identify.

"Go on." Naomi said, frowning at the sky. This was nuts.

"Cook is kind of like Freddie, but he makes anyone want to fuck him. Like, anyone."

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"Sort of. Cook gets people desperate for him to shag them, consumed with lust, but not love. More instant gratification, than forever. Does that make sense?"

"Is that what he did to Pandora?" Naomi sat up, stomach clenching. "Is that what you can do?" She turned to glare at Emily, as Emily rolled her eyes.

"Yes that's what he did to Pandora, and no I can't do that. Again, no one fucks me unless they want to." Emily raised her eyes pointedly at Naomi, and Naomi felt herself blush and look away. If the answer had been yes, she would've stormed out of the park, demanded she go back to London, and never spoken to Emily again. Never thought of Bristol, possibly even invested in wooden stake manufacturing. And, she thought somewhere deep down, be slightly relieved that it hadn't come from her. Fuck.

"Poor Pandora." She muttered, lying down again, and Emily turned her head toward her.

"I told you, you didn't want to know. These abilities, they're designed to help us. Designed for manipulation. Like Katie, who decidedly uses hers for evil since it makes it so easy for her to prey on people's vulnerabilities and insecurities." Emily turned her head back to the sky. "Effy and her work well together, cos Effy can tell the future, in a round about way. Sort of."

Naomi turned her head quickly, wondering if she'd later have whiplash. "Are you shitting me?"

"Well, not tell the future. But she knows, intrinsically, how people will react. To everything. She knows what they'll say, what they'll do, even what they'll feel. So she anticipates everything, which is almost like telling the future. Not people's thoughts though, hence her and Katie..." Emily licked her lips, trailing off and going silent as she gazed at the stars.

"And you?" Naomi asked, almost whispering.

Emily's eyes closed for a moment. "I can put things in people's heads." She whispered, after pausing for what felt like eons, and Naomi felt herself go still. "Not like thoughts, like images. Even make them think they're somewhere else, if I push it."

The music on the breeze stopped, and Naomi took a shuddery breath. "You did that to me when you fed off me." Her voice was so low that it trembled.

"Yes." Emily said back, looking at Naomi fearfully in the moonlight.

"When else?" Naomi sat up, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Sometimes, your dreams." Emily sat up as well, but Naomi refused to look at her. The hurt had come back twofold, and she felt sick with it.

"And?"

"Just those times, and once at college. With JJ."

Naomi remembered, then, one of her first days, when her mind had wandered into an imagined life with JJ. She remembered, too, how confused she had been at the time.

"Why the fuck would you do that?" Her voice still trembled, and she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

"Because I didn't know you, and I liked you, and I thought maybe you liked him so I…" Emily reached out to touch her, her voice desperate, and Naomi blanched.

"Fucking manipulated me into being wary of him? Jesus Christ!" She stood, suddenly, shaking.

Emily stood quickly too. "No! It wasn't to manipulate you, I can't manipulate you, not like that!" Emily grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around when she started to walk away.

Naomi shoved Emily, though Emily, even smaller than her, didn't move. Acted like Naomi hadn't just shoved her with all her might.

"You put images in my head and made me feel stupid! Made me want you! This whole thing!" Naomi spluttered, turning around again, hating herself for thinking she would feel relief as opposed to feeling completely used and wanting to cry.

Emily ran after her, stopping in front of her and putting her hands on her shoulders. "No, Naomi, I can't do that! I can make people see things, but I can't control how they'll react to them!" Emily pushed against her, stopping her from walking, and Naomi shook her hands off.

"What does that even fucking mean?" She said, crossing her arms, feeling some of the anger slip away, enough to hear Emily out at least.

"It means," Emily said, peering intently into her eyes. "That I can put whatever I want into someone's head. Make them think they're anywhere. Make them dream whatever I want them to. But I can't control how they'll react to it, what they'll feel or think about it. Like JJ. I didn't know if you'd like your imagined life with him or not, you could've and I would've left you alone. Or that first night you came out with us, you weren't repulsed by the idea of me. Of being with me. Kissing me. Any of it. If you had been, again, I wouldn't have pushed so hard to be with you." Emily sounded choked up, and Naomi wondered if she was crying.

Naomi took deep, shuddering breaths, closing her eyes. "I don't know if I believe you." She said, gritting her teeth, and looking at Emily when she felt Emily's hands on her arms.

"I swear it, Naomi. I fucking promise you." Emily sniffed, a darkness on her cheek, and the sight of it made Naomi stand back. Emily wiped it away angrily.

"I need to go home." Naomi said, and Emily took a step back from her. "Will you take me?" Naomi blew out a breath, looking away when Emily nodded emphatically.

She waited while Emily retrieved the blanket, and they sat quietly in the car as Emily drove them back to Naomi's house. Naomi felt herself calming down, though only slightly, still feeling incredibly invaded.

"I'm sorry." Emily said again. "This is a lot, isn't it?"

"I'm so overwhelmed I can barely think. Just when I got used to, you know, one of the most impossible things I could think of, and being lied to, and fucking fed off, it's just the icing on the shit cake, really." Naomi unbuckled her seatbelt when the car stopped outside her house.

"For what it's worth, I haven't done it since that night, at the club. I haven't done any of it. I'm so sorry, I've never, I haven't, I mean no one has affected me like you before." Emily looked at her beseechingly. "Please don't tell me to go away. Anything but that."

Naomi frowned. "Don't fucking lie, Emily. You promised you wouldn't lie. You put Cassie, and you, in my dreams all this last fucking week."

Emily looked utterly startled, but not guilty, and Naomi frowned even deeper.

"No, Naomi, I didn't." Emily looked at her openly, and Naomi felt her frown clear because, actually, she did believe her. "What did you dream?"

Naomi rolled her eyes. "I don't know, that Cassie was reaching for me and you were like, clinging to her and crying." Naomi glanced at Emily, seeing the total shock on her face.

"No I, that wasn't me at all." Emily looked away from her, looking shocked and slightly confused. And also, something else Naomi couldn't put her finger on.

"Oh." Naomi said, opening her car door after a moment. "Well, then. Look. I just need some time, okay?"

Emily looked back at her, nodding quickly. "Of course." She gave her a weak smile. "I have all the time in the world, actually."

"Right." Naomi said, stepping out of the car. "Thanks for dinner." She gave Emily a curt smile. "I'll see you on Monday."

She avoided the living room when she let herself into her house, hearing her dad and Veronica chuckling and she rolled her eyes. She trudged up the stairs, closing her bedroom door behind her and throwing herself on her bed without turning the light on. She stared up at her ceiling, struggling to remember the images Emily had put in her head since she'd met her.

Aside from JJ, it had all been sex related, or making out, or fucking inappropriate touching. And she had reacted to it, hadn't she? But she'd also thought it was coming from her, not Emily. Fucking hell, what did that even mean?

She closed her eyes, later, falling into eventual sleep and dreaming about nothing that made sense. Scattered images, people who didn't look like themselves, flashes of confusion and weird feelings. When she woke up, she almost missed the dreams Emily had apparently given her in comparison.

Almost.

V^^^^^V

She gave Emily a small smile when she walked into her philosophy class on Monday morning, Emily returning it with something akin to relief on her face. Cook raised his eyebrow at her, and Pandora prattled on about some television series she loved that Naomi had never heard of when she sat down. In all honesty, she thought, life had become far more interesting than television.

After almost half an hour, when Miss Clark still hadn't shown up, Cook stood and walked out, with a loud. "Fuck this, yeah?"

She watched as some of the other students started getting up, and following Cook, and JJ raised his eyebrows at her and shrugged. He stood, picking his bag up and walking out of the room, and Pandora stood as well.

"Come on Nai, we got free time! Whizzer!" She waited for a second, until Naomi looked around.

"I might meet you outside, alright?" She looked at Pandora, noticing the way she glanced at Emily, who was yet to leave the room either.

"You sure, Nai? I don't mind waiting." Pandora gave Emily a worried glance, being so obvious Naomi wanted to laugh.

"Really." Naomi said, touching Pandora on the hand, and Pandora walked out of the room, throwing glances over her shoulder as she went.

"Well we'll be waiting and if you don't show we'll notice!" Pandora said loudly, looking half petrified as she did so, before disappearing into the hallway.

"Fuck's sake." Naomi muttered, twisting around to see Emily smirking at her. She was leaning back in her chair, ankles crossed, her forearms resting across her stomach. They were the only ones left behind.

"I really like her, actually." Emily's smirk softened, and she gazed at Naomi for a moment.

"She's definitely one of a kind." Naomi replied, struggling to keep her eyes from looking down at Emily's legs, stretched out, nor where the short skirt she was wearing began. Or ended, really.

"Alright weekend?" Emily asked softly, raising an eyebrow when Naomi's eyes flickered down for a second.

"Oh, well, I suppose. Found out some interesting things about vampires, actually. Sneaky fuckers, they are." What the Jesus Christ was wrong with her? No flirting, she told herself harshly, even as Emily uncrossed her legs for a moment, and then recrossed them. Shit, she thought, as she looked back into Emily's eyes. She'd just watched. Avidly.

"Well, if one of them told you, they must really like you." Emily slowly sat forward, uncrossing her legs and standing. Naomi blinked, realising Emily was dressed as if, as if, well, she'd raided Katie's wardrobe. She was glad Katie wasn't around, because thinking something along the lines of a nice rack running in the family would probably get her killed. Violently.

Naomi swallowed. "Or she's a shameless flirt." Her mouth went dry as Emily leant over to pick her bag up off the floor, and her skirt rode up exposing the alarmingly appealing expanse of thigh and… Naomi shook her head. Christ. She turned around quickly, shutting her eyes for a minute, and then stood up. "Question." She addressed the front of the classroom, annoyed when her voice sounded slightly breathless.

"You can ask me anything." Emily appeared in front of her desk, her arms crossed, a knowing look in her eyes.

"You can put images in people's heads?" Naomi fiddled with her pen, trying to avoid looking at Emily altogether. When the fuck had she become such a pervy boy? Emily nodded, her expression sobering. "Can you, also, as well as that, well can you, uh, tell what images are already in people's heads?" Naomi bit her lip, hating that her cheeks flushed and she felt her face heat up ridiculously.

Emily paused, and Naomi glanced at her, rolling her eyes when Emily suddenly laughed. "No, Naomi. I can't tell that." Emily reached forward then, across the desk, gently touching her shoulder for just a moment.

Naomi noticeably breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded slightly. "Good. Just wondering. Completely unrelated to anything other than curiosity." She picked her bag up as Emily snorted.

"But Katie can." Emily laughed, again, at the expression on her face, and walked towards the door. "Don't worry though, I don't think she'll be at college again for a while." She shrugged. "If at all, actually."

Naomi watched her walk away, wondering briefly if she'd lied about being able to make people want to fuck her, because seriously. She hadn't felt that agitated since, well, the bathroom cubicle. Not that she wanted to remember that, or anything, but Jesus Christ.

She met Pandora and JJ outside, sitting on the grass and having no clue what they were talking about because her eyes had unfocused and she kept seeing Emily in her head, her legs and chest, and she felt her pulse quicken just slightly as she remembered the bathroom. Remembered what it had felt like when Emily kissed her, and her hands had slid downwards. Not that she'd forgotten, even though she wanted to. She'd been too preoccupied with the drama of the whole fucking thing lately, it seemed, to remotely think of anything sexual.

Which was alarming. Incredibly alarming. Because she hadn't dealt with the idea of vampirism, or manipulation, or being fucking fed off. Not completely. But, she realised, she'd made marginally more progress in the matter than she had with her sudden overwhelming apparent homosexuality.

Pandora burst into happy applause next to her, and she looked at JJ, an expectant look on his face and a deck of cards he was holding, and belatedly clapped her hands as well. He gave them both a happy smile, and fanned them out, and she looked away.

Emily and Cook were standing a ways off, deep in conversation. Emily was laughing, and touching his arm, and to anyone else it would look like they were flirting. To anyone else, the way her skirt clung to her hips, and the darker shade of lipstick, one Effy usually wore, would've seemed designed to drive him crazy. She bit her lip, because fuck if she hadn't felt this form of jealousy before.

Emily had manipulated her, she reminded herself. Put images in her head. Was a fucking fictional being. But, another voice piped in, it wasn't her fault that she liked it. No, her own voice whispered, it wasn't Emily's fault that the thought of fucking her was actually appealing.

She had to stop flirting, had to stop encouraging Emily. Because she wasn't gay, maybe, and Emily was a vampire, apparently, and that was like playing with fire in a house made of match sticks. Extremely attractive match sticks, that made her want to push Cook out of the way and throw Emily on the ground and rip her skirt off with her teeth.

She blinked, Pandora applauding again, and she clapped her hands slowly. The thought startled her, but not in the confusing way Emily's images had on the dance floor. Those had seemed to take her away, had told her a story. But now, it was her own thoughts conjuring images, her own wants fuelling them.

Fuck, she thought. Licking her lips, remembering. Her eyes closing when she felt the phantom touch of Emily's tongue pressing back against her own.

"They seem awfully close, or closer than usual, wouldn't you say Naomi?" JJ's voice broke through, and she snapped her eyes open. He was looking at her sympathetically.

"Who?" She asked dumbly, her eyes glancing between JJ, and where Cook and Emily stood. She felt something awful when she saw that he had his arm around her, and they were laughing.

"I was certain she was gay, and they've certainly always been together, but not together, that is to say, more friends, or so I thought, but who knows with," JJ seemed to catch himself. "Those types. I can't imagine it's easy living forever, and it must be hard to be interested in people, like you and me, on account that we're barely around for a flicker of time, comparatively. We're just blood bags, aren't we?"

"JJ! We're not meant to talk about it!" Pandora shushed him, and after a moment he looked incredibly guilty.

She felt somewhat numb, all of a sudden.

"Shit. Balls. I'm sorry Naomi, I didn't think. I never think. I over think. Stupid fucking idiot." JJ balled his hands into fists.

"It's alright." She heard herself say blandly. "It's the truth."

She felt like she'd been hit in the chest, felt the air leave her lungs, when she realised that if Emily wasn't feeding off her, who was she feeding off? And further more, how often did they have to feed anyway? Was Emily sucking the necks of other girls even while she'd been sucking hers? The thoughts were awful. The questions made her heart hammer in her chest. She shouldn't care. She had to excuse herself, run to the toilets, and splash water on her face.

She looked at the side of her neck, the faint reddish marks of where Emily's bite used to be. Wondered how many other girls had stared in the mirror at the same thing, and whether she was just another in a long line of lovesick fucking idiots.

Later, she sat next to her dad on the couch in front of the television and listened as he laughed at a mindless programme she could barely follow. After all, she thought sulkily, that's what people like her did. Mortal people. They didn't traipse around with vampires and forget what she was to them. Didn't delude themselves that they were anything special.

Didn't flirt with immortality, no matter how much it flirted back.

V^^^^^V


	7. Tastes Like Death But It Looks Like Fun

Something was buzzing on her bedside table, and it tore her away from a dream that involved her dad speaking to her in a Mickey Mouse voice about recycling peanuts. She grabbed for her phone, frowning when it stopped ringing just as she answered. She rolled over, holding her phone in her hand and cradling it against her chest as she snuggled further into her bed. But Dad, she was thinking as her mind slipped back into the dream, aren't cashews more sustainable in the long term…

She jerked as her phone started vibrating in her hand, pressing it to the side of her head quickly.

"Cashews?" She mumbled, blinking her eyes open when she heard Emily's voice.

"What? Sorry to wake you. Did I? Shit, sorry. Listen, can I come in?"

Naomi cleared her throat, rolling onto her back. "Emily?" She rubbed her eyes for a moment, pulling the phone from her ear to look at the time. "It's three in the morning…"

"I know, I'm really sorry. Just, please let me in?"

Naomi yawned loudly, feeling half asleep. "Look, I know you don't need to sleep but being a member of the living, I actually do so…"

Emily cut her off again, and Naomi realised that she sounded vaguely panicked. She sat up in her bed, feeling slightly more alert.

"You can go back to sleep, just let me in, yeah?"

Naomi pulled the blankets off her legs, yawning again. She sat on the edge of her bed, sighing. "Tell me what happened first." She heard Emily swear softly.

"Shit. Listen, I had a row with Katie, alright? A big one. She disappeared and I'm, well, just let me in okay? Just to be on the safe side."

Naomi felt like laughing, because what the fuck did that mean? "What, you think she'd come here?" That was ludicrous, but she stood anyway, opening her bedroom door and making her way in the darkness down the stairs.

"I wouldn't put it past her."

Naomi cracked the front door open, peeking around the side of it. She hung up her phone when she saw Emily chewing on one of her fingernails on her doorstep, watched as Emily put her phone back into her jacket pocket.

"Fuck, I'm really sorry…" Emily started saying, walking forwards but Naomi lifted a hand up to shush her. She gestured inside the house with a nod of her head, and Emily followed her, shutting the door with a soft click and turning the lock.

Naomi teetered slightly on the stairs, still tired, and she felt Emily place a steadying hand on the small of her back, keeping it there until they were in her bedroom.

Emily moved to stand awkwardly by Naomi's bed as Naomi shut her door, moving blindly in the dark until she found the lamp on her bedside table and turned it on. She leant her back against the window, waiting for Emily to turn and look at her.

"So." Naomi said, looking at the floor for a moment, feeling the coolness from the glass seeping through the oversized t-shirt she'd worn to bed.

Emily walked over to lean against the opposite side of the window. "Katie and I, we had a fight. I can't find her, I don't know where she's gone. Effy's out searching, and I couldn't stop thinking that she might come here and, well, do something."

Naomi frowned. "Why would she come here?" She looked longingly at her bed for a moment, struggling to remember what she'd been dreaming about.

"Because she's, I don't know, adamant that you and I shouldn't be," Emily licked her lips, looking away from Naomi. "Friends." She rasped.

"So you're here to protect me, then?" Naomi knew she sounded sceptical, pushing off from the window and moving to sit on the edge of her bed. Emily folded her arms.

"In a nutshell." Emily muttered, and Naomi thought of Mickey Mouse and peanuts and had no idea why. She tilted sideways, lying down and bringing her feet up to rest on the bed. "I won't watch you or anything, will just sit on the floor and read or something. Just in case."

Naomi stared at Emily, felt her eyelids drooping, wondered for a moment if this was part of her dream. "You can leave the lamp on, to read." She mumbled, shifting herself under her blankets.

"It's okay, we can see in the dark." Emily said, walking over to click the lamp off. Naomi heard her moving away from the bed, and reached a hand out blindly to grab the material of her jacket.

"You don't have to sit on the floor." She half whispered, heard the sudden warmth in Emily's voice when she replied.

"Thanks."

Naomi felt the bed dip as Emily climbed over her, rolled over to face Emily in the dark. Something inside her had missed this, sleeping next to Emily, almost too much. Her eyes closed, and she could feel her breathing evening out already. Emily moved closer to her.

"Lift your head." She heard Emily whisper, and when she did so she felt Emily slip her arm under her neck. Naomi had her head on Emily's shoulder, and wrapped her arm around Emily's waist, sighing contentedly because this was a wonderful dream. She could hear Emily humming something, a song she didn't recognise, her voice giving out on the notes that were too low or high. Naomi snuggled into her further, her head moving onto Emily's chest. Her last thought was that no, she couldn't hear a heartbeat.

She found that she really didn't mind.

V^^^^^V

Emily snuck out of the house in the morning while Naomi distracted her dad with breakfast, knocking on the door a few minutes after she'd closed it and smiling brightly when Naomi's dad answered it with a surprised smile.

"Emily! I hadn't expected to see you again. You look well." Naomi's dad made room as if to let Emily in.

"It's nice to see you too, Mr Campbell." Emily smiled sweetly, making no move to enter the house as Naomi rushed up behind them.

"Sorry Dad, running late. See you tonight." She kissed him quickly on the cheek, pushing Emily down the path and waving when her dad called out a goodbye. Emily was giggling when they got to the car, and Naomi smirked at her.

As they drove toward college, Naomi felt the smile slipping off her face, remembering how Emily and Cook had been acting the day before. "So you and Cook are good friends, right?" Naomi bit her lip, rolling her eyes when Emily winked at her and laughed.

"I thought you were all for pretending we weren't friends anymore?" Emily changed gears, flipping off another driver when they honked at her.

"I am, but, I don't know. Are you with him?" Naomi felt stupid, especially considering she'd woken up cuddling Emily that morning and it had startled her out of her mind.

"Of course not." Emily reached a hand over, placing it on her knee. "He and I were never like that. Anyway, it was Effy's idea. She said your minions wouldn't interfere anymore if they thought I wasn't, well, interested." Emily squeezed her knee, and Naomi quickly placed a hand over Emily's when she went to pull it away.

"Oh." Naomi mumbled, feeling her face heat up. She was relieved, more than relieved, but JJ had still made a point. "Why are you interested in me?"

Emily pulled up a few metres from the entrance to the college so Naomi could get out and it wouldn't look like she'd driven her, as they'd agreed before Emily had snuck out that morning. Emily turned to her, reaching her other hand out to cup Naomi's face.

"I honestly don't know what it is about you. I've never had this before. Sid and Tony think, well, Michelle too actually, and Cassie, they all think you're…" Emily trailed off, pulling her hand back and closing her eyes briefly. "Anyway, they think you're important, that's all." Emily gave her a small smile, before leaning over and quickly kissing her cheek. "I think so too." She whispered into Naomi's ear, causing her to shudder.

Naomi opened her door, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car. "I'll see you in there?" She asked, leaning down and smiling at Emily though her voice sounded a little shaky. Emily nodded, and Naomi stood allowing her to drive off.

She kept her fingertips lightly touching her cheek as she walked toward Roundview. She thought about how depressed she had felt the night before, the jealousy she'd unsuccessfully swallowed when she'd seen Cook with his arm around Emily, and the sick feeling in her stomach when JJ had called her a virtual blood bag. He was wrong, it seemed. Emily had just called her important.

Fuck she had so many questions, the least of all concerning whether Katie actually wanted to cause her harm. As she sat next to Pandora, automatically tuning out her excited ramble, she could feel Emily's eyes watching her even though she didn't turn around.

All this time, she thought, that she'd spent trying to figure out what she meant to the people around her, and a realisation had just snuck up and whacked her, as Pandora would say, in the pants:

Emily was important to her too.

V^^^^^V

She waved goodbye to Pandora, JJ and Thomas, walking toward the bus stop by herself and glancing around for any sign of Emily. Effy had dragged Emily away once politics had finished, and she hadn't seen either of them after that. As she waited for her bus, she frowned suddenly, feeling like she was being watched.

Did Katie actually mean her any harm? Sure, she was a vampire, but she couldn't be all that bad, considering she was Emily's twin and, aside from the initial secrecy, Emily was proving to be someone she wanted to spend time with vampire or not.

Freddie had smiled at her at lunch, offering her a small wave, and even Cook had thrown her a wink when she'd walked into philosophy. If only they could all get along… she stopped the thought with an eye roll. She was turning into mother fucking Theresa.

She jumped slightly when a car pulled up at the bus stop, and honked. The passenger window rolled down, and she saw a boy she didn't recognise. Beside him, another leaned over to smile at her broadly, and she realised it was Chris.

"Fancy a lift?" He called out, and she hesitated, looking down the street for any sign of the bus.

"I don't know." She said after a moment, and the second boy said something to Chris that made him shake his head.

"It's alright, we won't bite." Chris raised his yellow sunglasses, winking at her cheekily.

"Yeah, just here to see you safely home." The other boy said, and shrugged.

She stood up, walking cautiously to the car, and the second boy stuck his hand through the open window.

"I'm Sid, friend of Emily and that lot." He waited while she just looked at his hand, biting her lip. "Well." He pulled his hand back into the car awkwardly, looking at Chris as if for help.

"Listen, yeah, Ems couldn't drive you home and was like, deathly concerned so we said we'd do it." He held his hands up. "Swear to God, or whoever you like." He smiled at her, as did Sid, and she wondered about strangers in cars and Katie hiding in the boot, and got in anyway.

Sid turned around to keep smiling at her, though it froze on his face after a moment.

"So." He said, blinking at her once. "Emily's talked loads about you."

She buckled her seat belt, falling back into her seat as Chris revved the engine and took off.

"I've heard." She said back, and then gave Sid the friendliest smile she could muster.

"And you've met Cass. She really likes you." He nodded at her, and she bit her lip.

"Yes, we met last week under interesting circumstances." She turned her head to glance at the passing scenery, checking they were heading to her house.

"Yeah." Sid nodded, kept nodding as he looked at Chris who was puffing on a cigarette and leaning forward.

"Just Michelle and Tony left." Chris said, and she wasn't sure if that was directed at her or Sid. "Actually, fancy coming round now?" Chris waggled his eyebrows at her, turning around for longer than she was comfortable with since he was meant to be driving the bloody car.

"Don't know about that, Emily might not be, er, happy we brought her round without warning her." Sid turned back around, giving her a half smile before he turned his head away.

"Nah man, she'd be cool. Plus Naomi here has to meet Tony and Michelle first anyway. It's like," Chris gestured with his cigarette toward Sid. "The rules or something."

Naomi sat in the back wondering how mental she was for considering the offer. The offer to go to a house filled with vampires, when one of them apparently wanted to kill her.

"I think Sid's right." She said, leaning forward. "I mean, Emily thinks Katie might…"

"Nah." Chris cut her off. "Katie's all talk, she'll come round. Particularly if Tony and Michelle are onside. And Ems would love to have you visit." He tapped his head with one hand, grinning at her quickly. "I just know it."

Sid turned around to look at her, and for a moment she was lost in the brown of his eyes, and couldn't help but think of Emily. "It's perfectly acceptable to say no. Chris gets a bit excited sometimes. He once convinced an entire convent to drink a barrel of holy wine each and…"

Chris reached over and punched Sid in the arm. "Firstly, they loved it! And secondly, if you want to bring up stories I'll tell Naomi about how you tricked Cass into turning and then…"

Sid punched Chris in the arm, pointing his finger at him and frowning. "That's unfair, I told you her version was barmy, and what actually happened was perfectly innocent and can't be held against me."

Chris scoffed, and Naomi realised, looking out the windows, that she didn't recognise where they were heading.

"Uh, where are we?" She asked, but both of them ignored her.

"Bullshit mate, it was totally evil what you did to her. Like, practically old Tony evil." Chris lit another cigarette as Sid put a hand to his chest and looked completely affronted.

"Old Tony? That's fucking low, man." He shook his head, looking out his window.

"Well, maybe not old Tony exactly." Chris lit another cigarette, and Naomi leant forward.

"Really, where are we?" She frowned at Chris as he winked at her.

"We're almost home, poppet." He turned the car onto a long driveway, and she sat back, feeling her heart hammering in her chest. Jesus, she was actually entering a vampire den. Or coven. Nest?

"Can't believe you compared me to old Tony." Sid mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Come on Sid, you have to admit it was a tad dastardly." Chris pulled the car up outside a massive house nestled at the top of the driveway. Naomi wondered what would happen if she fainted, and if she asked them nicely whether they'd take her home.

"Dastardly? I like that." Sid raised his eyebrows at Chris. "Old Tony was a bit dastardly when he was on a strict virgin only diet."

Chris laughed, jumping out of the car. "Dastardly and bastardly, our old Tony."

Naomi felt forgotten as they started to walk toward the house, her hand frozen on the handle, wondering if she should get out or not.

"I miss him sometimes." She heard Sid say, and Chris put his arm around him.

"Me too." She heard faintly, before they both turned around and looked at her.

"Coming in?" Sid called out, and she took a deep breath, opening the door. She stood, pressing herself against the car and willing herself not to freak out. Her thought pattern felt like it had been possessed by JJ. All she could think was 'Vampires. Blood bag. Katie. Death. Bitch. Fuck. Vampires. Blood bag.' Before the front door swung open suddenly and Emily stormed out.

"What the fuck?" She said, punching Chris in the stomach and glaring at Sid. "I asked for one fucking favour, one!"

Chris bent over for a moment, and Sid held his hands up. "Wasn't my idea." He mumbled, and Emily made as if to punch him as well.

"Jesus Ems, way to say thank you, yeah?" Chris rubbed his belly for a moment, and then swept his arms to the side of him as if presenting Naomi to her. "Your lady love arrives!" He grinned at Emily, and Naomi had never seen Emily more, well, deadly looking.

"You," She shoved him. "Should," She shoved Sid. "Have," She glared at them, and Naomi felt frightened. "Warned me." She finished in a low voice, before walking quickly over to Naomi and attempting to smile, though it was strained and didn't meet her eyes. "I'm so sorry." Emily mumbled.

"Maybe you should take me home." Naomi whispered, and Emily nodded once, turning back toward Chris.

"Give me your keys, you tit." She held her hand out, and Chris shrugged, getting them out of his pocket. Before he could throw them, a very tall boy walked slowly out of the front door with his hands clasped in front of him and his head cocked to the side.

"Hello." He called out, and Naomi blinked. He walked past Sid and Chris, didn't look at anyone but her. "I'm Tony. How do you do?" He extended a hand, and she felt herself taking it without hesitation. He brought her hand up to his lips, placing the briefest of kisses against it.

"Oh, so she takes his hand and not mine." She heard Sid saying somewhere behind Tony.

"Hi." She said, her voice cracking and she cleared her throat. She tore her eyes away from his, noticed Emily leaning against the car with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Would you join us for some afternoon tea?" Tony raised an eyebrow at her, and she frowned slightly. "Michelle loves any excuse to use the kitchen." He gave her a small smile, inclining his head toward the house.

"Tony…" Emily began, sounding vaguely panicked.

Tony turned toward Emily, and put his arm around her. "It's alright Ems, Katie and my lovely sister just took off out the back. I think it'd be lovely if your Naomi joined us for a bit, and then you can take her home." Tony squeezed Emily's shoulders, turning his attention back to Naomi. "Wouldn't it?" He asked her, and she found herself nodding in agreement.

Tony put his other arm around her shoulders and began to lead them into the house. Naomi felt her jaw dropping as she looked around. The house was fucking massive, and gorgeous. She would love, she thought, to live in a house like that. She was lead through the entrance hall, past a grand staircase, and into a living area where she saw Cassie jump up from reclining on a lounge and practically skip toward her.

"Oh, wow, I'm so glad it's today." Cassie said, pulling her from Tony's half embrace and hugging her. She held on a bit too long, swaying them both side to side, and Naomi felt like pinching herself to check she wasn't dreaming.

Tony moved to sit in a large armchair, crossing one leg over the other and staring at her as if, she thought, examining her. Cassie pulled back, grabbing Emily and hugging her as well. Naomi felt like laughing at the look on Emily's face.

"I'm so happy for you." Cassie breathed, letting Emily go and Emily looked slightly embarrassed.

"Would you like to take a seat?" Tony asked, gesturing toward the armchair next to his, and Naomi looked quickly at Emily before moving to sit in it, awkwardly.

Emily resignedly sat herself opposite them on the lounge Cassie had been on. Cassie had disappeared somewhere as had Sid and Chris, and Naomi looked between Tony and Emily for a moment, half expecting Tony to ask her what her intentions were toward Emily and whether she had a stable income.

"Thank you for not squealing on us." Tony said after a pause, offering her a smile and otherwise not moving. "I quite like it here, I would hate to have to move."

"Oh, well." Naomi bit her lip, gripping her bag to her chest. "Apparently there's been loads of opportunities for me to be killed and I haven't." She shrugged slightly, feeling her eyes bug out of her head as she realised she was rationalising her actions on the sheer fact that she was still alive.

"Trust me, you wouldn't stand a chance against any of us." Tony shrugged slightly, smiling reassuringly. "But that's not what we're about, anymore. Is it Ems?" He turned his head slightly to look at Emily, who licked her lips and then nodded.

"I don't think she's ready for this, Tony." Emily murmured, struggling not to look at Naomi, but Tony waved her off.

"No one's ever ready." He said simply, before Cassie and another girl came rushing into the room.

"Shit, she is pretty." The other girl, who Naomi could only assume was Michelle, smiled at her. Cassie sat down next to Emily, reaching over to hold her hand. Naomi watched the movement, feeling the faintest tug of jealousy in the pit of her stomach. "I'm Michelle." Michelle leaned forward to grasp Naomi's hand briefly, smiling warmly and then sitting on the other side of Cassie, who reached to hold her hand as well.

Jesus, they were an affectionate bunch. Had she not known they were vampires, her weird sex cult idea would have reared it's ugly head and declared itself the winner.

"Nice to meet you." Naomi tried to smile, felt her heart beating far too hard and wondered, for a petrifying moment, whether they could all hear it.

"Ems, she's beautiful." Michelle turned to Emily, her eyes rolling back in emphasis as she nodded. Naomi felt like she was five years old and being paraded around in front of her parents friends.

"It's been ages since I've had tea." Sid walked toward her with a tray in his hands, proudly setting it down on the little table that separated her chair from the lounge Michelle, Cassie and Emily sat on. She frowned when she saw scones messily arranged on a plate, covered in whip cream and what looked like a whole jar of jam.

"Cass warned me you were coming, so I shopped." Michelle smiled at her, expectant. Naomi reached for the pot of tea, her hands shaking as she poured the steaming liquid into a cup and stirred in some milk.

"Thanks for warning me." Emily grumbled, frowning, and everyone ignored her.

"How did you know I was coming?" Naomi asked Cassie, blowing on her tea, and taking a small sip, feeling entirely too awkward as three eager faces looked at her, Tony gazing steadily and Emily looking like she wished she could be anywhere else.

"She can tell the future." Sid said, sitting himself on the floor and leaning back against the lounge. Chris walked into the room, shrugging at Tony.

"Can't find Katie or Ef." He sat on the floor at Emily's feet, looking at Naomi excitedly. "Like the scones? I used to eat them like that. Bloody lovely they were." She watched him eye the scones for a moment.

"Hang on. You mean like Effy?" She asked, looking at Cassie, who giggled.

"No, the actual future." Emily mumbled.

"Yeah except she rarely tells us what it is." Chris reached for a scone, smelling it and closing his eyes.

"What, like everything?" Naomi blinked in surprise, and Cassie leant her head on Michelle's shoulder and stared at her with a small grin on her face.

"It's enough to drive you mad." Cassie giggled again, and Emily took her hand out of Cassie's grasp.

Tony watched the interaction with his head resting on one of his hands.

"Right, well I'll show Naomi round then take her home." Emily stood up, motioning toward her.

Naomi put her tea cup down, noticing a price sticker still on the side of it, and stood as well. Chris hastily put the scone down, and made as if to stand up but Emily put her hand on his shoulder and held him down.

"Alone." She said, and Sid reached for the tray as he stood up.

"Right, well I'll get rid of this, shall I?" He picked it up, walking out of the room, Chris forlornly watching the disappearing plate of scones and muttering something about waste. Cassie and Michelle stayed on the lounge, Cassie whispering in Michelle's ear and making both of them giggle.

Emily walked toward her, grabbing her hand and tugging her toward the staircase in the entrance hall.

"I'm really sorry, I tried to tell them that you wouldn't want me here but they started arguing and then we just sort of arrived." Naomi felt Emily tighten her grip on her hand, leading her up the stairs. Emily glanced back at her, her expression softening.

"It's alright, really. I'm actually sort of glad you're here. Just bad timing." Emily shrugged slightly, gesturing with her free hand as they reached the top of the stairs. "Right, so to the left are where Tony, Michelle, Sid and Cassie have rooms when they want to be by themselves. Chris has one just there, though he's rarely in it. Actually, we're all rarely in them other than when we need, you know, escape." Emily began walking to the right, leading her to a hallway.

Naomi looked around, noticing the floor to ceiling windows and exquisite artwork on the walls. She didn't know what she'd expected, but was surprised that it was so light and nice looking. The windows had heavy looking drapes at the sides of all of them, and Emily glanced at her, noticing where her gaze was focused.

"On sunny days they're closed and it's much more, well, gothic looking in here." Emily smirked at her slightly when Naomi blushed.

"I was expecting, I don't know, that I guess." She looked down at their entwined hands, felt herself squeeze Emily's and smiled.

"Come on, I'll show you where I go when I want to be myself." Emily tugged her down the hall, passing closed doors, and she found herself wondering what was on the other side of them.

"Where are Cook and Freddie?" She asked as they approached a door at the end of the hallway, and Emily opened it, letting go of her hand.

"Don't know, they took off after college saying they'll see us later." Emily walked into the room, Naomi waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. She blinked in surprise when Emily threw open some drapes revealing a large bay window at the front of a surprisingly neat room.

She walked in, breathing deeply, pleasantly realising that Emily's smell seemed to coat the room. There were bookshelves lining one wall, an assortment of instruments in a corner, and a comfortable looking armchair in another corner near the door. She walked along the bookshelves, running her hands over the spines and frowning slightly as she noticed some in languages she didn't recognise.

Emily stood awkwardly by the bay window, watching Naomi as she moved through the room. Naomi raised her eyebrows at a large oil painting on the wall opposite the bookshelves. She walked toward it slowly, recognising what had to be Emily and Katie seated next to each other and wearing demure looking dresses. A man stood behind them, smiling broadly, a pointed faced woman standing next to him with an expressionless face. A boy stood next to Emily, his hand resting on the arm of the lounge Katie and Emily were sat on. He was grinning and wearing a small suit.

"They're our family." Emily said softly, walking to stand next to Naomi and gaze at the painting. "I found this about five years ago through an art dealer who managed to track down where it had ended up after the war."

"What happened to them?" Naomi asked, gazing at Emily and Katie in the painting, and the colour in their skin. That's what they'd looked like, she thought feeling her stomach drop, when they were alive.

Emily turned away from the painting, moving to the bay window to sit. She stared out of the window, and Naomi moved to sit next to her after a moment. The view from Emily's window was beautiful. The garden was enormous, and in the background she could see Bristol.

"They died." Emily muttered, and Naomi had almost forgotten her question by the time Emily replied. Naomi opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when she noticed Emily watching something in the garden with a frown. Naomi followed her gaze, saw Katie standing beneath the window and staring up at them with a blank look on her face. "I'll take you home."

Emily stood, and Naomi moved away from the window as Emily shut her drapes.

"How old are you?" Naomi asked as Emily strode to the front of the room, half skipping to keep up with her.

Emily turned as she opened the door, peering at Naomi, and in the resulting darkness from the drapes being closed, Naomi could barely make out her expression.

"Seventeen." Emily answered, her voice soft. She paused, staring at her as Naomi took a step toward her.

"How long have you been seventeen?" Naomi reached out a hand, covering Emily's on the door handle, biting her lip as Emily leaned slightly toward her in the half light.

"A long time." Emily whispered, and tilted her head until their mouths were almost touching.

"How fucking sweet."

Emily jerked her head back just as they were about to make contact, and Naomi felt her face flush. Katie stood in the hallway, leaning against the wall opposite Emily's door.

"Fuck off Katie." Emily muttered, shaking her head and grabbing Naomi's hand, tugging her down the hallway.

"Oh sorry Ems, did I interrupt your little moment?" Katie walked after them, and Naomi heard her laugh. "Far be it from me to walk around my own house. Yeah? The house you promised me she wouldn't be invited to. Yeah, Ems?"

Emily stopped walking, turning around to face her sister.

"Meet me downstairs, yeah?" Emily looked at her quickly, and Naomi felt herself nod. "Look Katie, it was Chris and Sid who brought her, alright?"

Naomi turned to look at them before she hurried down the stairs, Katie smirking and baring her teeth, Naomi feeling like she might be sick when she saw Katie's fangs were extended.

"The fuck I care who brought her, yeah? She wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Fuck's sake, you're so fucking stupid sometimes. It's just a matter of time before all this blows up."

She could hear their voices getting louder when she reached the bottom of the stairs, finding Tony standing with his hands in his pockets and waiting for her. Fuck he's tall, she thought, as he tilted his head and listened.

"No it won't. Jesus Katie, why can't you just trust me for once, okay? You don't know anything about it."

"The fuck I do! Or have you forgotten that I can hear what's in that little tart's head? She still barely believes in us let alone can be trusted. It's like a fucking merry go round of confusion in there, Ems. She doesn't even think she's gay!"

There was a sound like something being hit, and a scuffling noise, and Tony gently put his hand on Naomi's shoulder and steered her toward the door.

"Let's wait outside, shall we?" He gave her a brief smile, and she struggled not to turn her head toward the raised voices and, what the fuck, was that a growl?

Tony shut the door behind them, staring off into the distance as she shakily lit a cigarette.

"Katie has a point." He said, not looking at her, and she blinked in surprise. "She usually does, on account of the whole psychic thing." She exhaled, watching his face. He turned to look at her. "Why did you come?"

Naomi took a step backwards, sucking on the end of her cigarette. "Sid and Chris…" She started, but he held up a hand.

"Why, Naomi?" He stared at her intently, and she felt like her heart would beat out of her chest.

"I don't know." She stammered, inhaling again. "I was curious." She winced, knowing that wasn't the right answer.

He stepped toward her, keeping his hands in his pockets, and after a moment surprised her with a smile.

"Curiosity is somewhat natural." There was a loud crash from inside, and Naomi jumped. "Michelle won't be impressed, that sounded like the antique vase she just bought back from Italy." He smirked when she looked at him slightly fearfully.

"I don't want to cause trouble." She hastily dropped her cigarette, crushing it with her shoe.

"Well, it seems like you already have." He turned to peer at the darkening sky, storm clouds rolling in over a distant hill. "Emily thinks you're worth it. But," Her breath hitched as he leaned his face toward her. "It's really up to you."

She gulped, weakly smiling at him. "I don't really know what you mean."

He raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "I think you do actually."

They stared at each other for a moment, and she jumped when the front door opened suddenly and Emily walked through with a wary look on her face.

"Ready?" She asked, walking past Tony toward the car. Naomi took a step away from him, and he reached out quickly to touch her arm.

"Don't forget what we are. We won't hurt you, of course. But don't forget that we could." He smiled, disarming the threat, and then surprised her by winking. "Come back when you're ready."

She gaped at him slightly, nodding and hurrying over to the car, Emily already in the driver's seat waiting.

"Well, that could have been worse." Emily muttered, starting the engine and turning the car to drive away from the house.

"Oh?" Naomi's voice shook, and she watched the house get smaller in her rear view mirror, Tony continuing to watch them drive away.

V^^^^^V

Emily dropped her home, promising to return later in the night to keep an eye out. Naomi briefly smiled, kept seeing Katie baring her fangs, and agreed if only because she wasn't sure she would be able to sleep without Emily there.

Her dad bade her goodnight sometime around eleven, and she received a text from Emily soon afterwards telling her she was outside. She crept to the front door, opening it and seeing Emily with her back toward her. She smiled.

"Hey." She whispered, reaching forward and taking Emily's hand.

Emily turned, grabbing her hand and jerking her out of the house, and Naomi felt like screaming when she saw it was Katie. Katie moved so fast, pulling her toward the front gate and through it before she could blink, and she was thrown into the back of a car, feeling sick from moving so fast.

She struggled to sit herself upright as the door was closed behind her, and Katie appeared in the driver's seat, starting the engine and beginning to drive before Naomi could grasp the door handle and struggle to open it.

"Please let me out!" She shrieked, and Katie gunned the engine, the car gaining speed.

"Shut up." Katie replied. "Just shut the fuck up."

Naomi twisted the door handle, grabbing desperately at the lock and unsuccessfully attempting to unlock it.

"Where are you taking me? Please don't do this Katie!" She felt tears pricking her eyes, felt her blood run cold with fear.

"I told you to shut the fuck up." Katie twisted, glaring at her. She laughed when Naomi felt her face go slack with horror, looking at Katie's fangs.

"Jesus." She groaned, struggling with the door handle, hitting it with her fists and feeling tears leaking out of her eyes.

Katie drove onwards, silently, the car leaving Bristol behind and countryside stretching out on either side of them. Naomi struggled to stop herself from outright weeping, but she was blinded with panic. Emily, she felt her mind screaming, Emily!

"Fat lot of good that will do. I'm the psychic twin, babes." Katie's voice was eerily calm.

"Where are you taking me?" Naomi whispered, her voice completely failing her. Katie didn't respond, pulling the car over and stopping on the side of the empty road. Katie turned in her seat, peering at her.

"Right, I'm this close to killing you, yeah? So listen closely, bitch." Katie narrowed her eyes, and Naomi shrank back in her seat. "Just what the fuck do you think you're playing at?"

Naomi gasped, unable to speak, shaking her head side to side.

"Well? Fuck's sake I'm not like, killing you right now though if you don't say anything I will, yeah? And stop fucking screaming, it isn't helping you." Katie pursed her lips, and Naomi felt nothing but a high pitched noise inside her own head.

"I, I don't know." She stuttered finally, pushing herself as far back in the car and away from Katie as possible.

"No, you don't know. You don't know a fucking thing about what we've been through, about what it's like. Fuck you're both so stupid. What did you think, you'd have a bicurious tumble with a fucking vampire and get on with your life?" Katie slammed her hand against the passenger seat head rest, breaking it and causing it to falling onto Naomi's feet.

"I don't…" Naomi stammered again.

"Stop saying that! What the fuck does she see in you? All of them blathering about how Emily's found her other fucking half, who she can bond with and fucking turn." Katie snarled, suddenly, turning away from Naomi for a moment.

Naomi gasped, her mind blinded with panic. "What?" She whispered, and Katie turned toward her again with a sickly sweet smile on her face.

"Oh yes bitchtits, you heard me right. Or did you think Emily was only into you to hold hands and play happy teenage romance before you graduate and go your separate ways?" Katie leaned over the gap between the front seats, peering intently into Naomi's face. "She wants you, babes, she wants you to be one of us." Katie's voice was low, cruel and mocking.

Naomi couldn't look away from Katie. "I don't understand." She hastily wiped her eyes, not wanting to lose sight of Katie for too long.

"No, you don't understand. Anything." Katie leant backwards, peering out of one of the windows for a moment.

"I keep trying to tell her that you're not it, that you're flighty and stubborn, and will fucking run away as soon as you get half the chance. She can't admit that I know you better than she does, and not by fucking choice."

Naomi felt something well up inside her, something angry and insulted. "You don't know me." She muttered, all her muscles taught.

"Don't I?" Katie said dangerously low, turning slowly to face her again. Katie smirked at her, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "Listen up you repressed little dyke. End it with Emily, get on with your life. College is a fucking waste of time for us, I doubt the rest of them will last much longer. And then you can forget, yeah? Have a nice little life, tell your grandkids about how you once had a run in with a vampire, and they'll laugh because you're clearly bonkers." Katie narrowed her eyes at her. "Don't forget that she's mine. Otherwise, I can kill you now. I'm not fucking fussed either way." Katie shrugged her shoulders, and Naomi looked at her fearfully, hating that she felt powerless.

"Emily won't forgive you." She whispered, thinking if she could only get one up on Katie, she could go home.

Katie rolled her eyes, and Naomi felt like hitting herself. Fuck it was annoying dealing with a psychic. "It might take her ten, twenty, even fifty years. But you're not the only pretty blonde in the world, and certainly not her first."

Naomi grimaced, wishing she hadn't. Katie laughed, and started the car.

"Why are you such a bitch?" She asked, and couldn't help herself. Katie snorted, turning the car around.

"Because we're not fucking designed to be friendly, they all fucking know it. It's just a matter of time before they revert and we start having some fucking fun again." Katie changed gears, and Naomi turned her head to gaze sullenly out of the window, the slightest relief creeping in when she saw the lights of Bristol again.

"Emily won't." She muttered, unsure why she felt she had to believe that so strongly.

"Did Emily ever tell you about our brother, James? Right little shit he was, fucking pervert too." Katie hummed softly for a minute as Naomi closed her eyes. "Used to watch us when we bathed. Well, Emily sure enjoyed snapping his neck and feeding from him. Surprised the little fucker, particularly after we killed mum and dad in front of him."

Naomi put her hands over her ears. It was too awful to listen to.

"Emily, well fuck, she was glorious once, yeah? Left me to shame in the cruelty department. When she lost control it was fucking mint, babes. It was beautiful." Katie's voice got louder, and Naomi pressed her hands as tightly as she could against her head.

"I don't believe you." She said loudly, unable to block out Katie's laughter.

"I don't give a flying fuck whether you believe me or not." Katie went quiet as she drove the car back toward Naomi's house, flicking a button on her door when they stopped moving. Naomi lunged, able to open her door and tumbled onto the grass breathing heavily.

Katie turned the car around, winding down her window and waving a phone at her, one that looked like Emily's.

"I don't do warnings, yeah? This is like, a fucking first for me. Don't make me regret not killing you cause it's easily rectified." Katie tooted the horn once, raising both eyebrows quickly and blowing her a kiss, before the car tore off down the street.

Naomi scrambled to her feet, breathing heavily, thankful she hadn't wet herself because she'd never been so terrified in her whole life.

She locked the door with trembling fingers, bursting into tears when she curled up on her bed in the darkness, sobbing into her pillow.

She received a text from Emily half an hour later, telling her she was out the front and ending it with a smiley face. She typed back 'Leave me alone.' And turned her phone off. She hugged her pillow tightly to her chest, shrieking when there was a tapping at her window, and Emily was peering through it looking concerned. She knocked against it again, and Naomi stood up quickly, walking toward it but not opening it.

"Go away." She said, sniffling and shaking her head, and Emily pressed her palms against the glass. Naomi looked out, seeing Emily balanced precariously on a drain pipe and pressed against the window.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked loudly, frowning in concern. "Please let me in, did something happen to you?"

Naomi shook her head again. "Get the fuck away from me." She turned her back, stopping when Emily banged against her glass.

"Naomi please!" Emily looked on the verge of tears. "What the fuck happened?"

Naomi turned back around, striding to the window and pressing her nose slightly against it to stare into Emily's eyes. "Why don't you tell me what the fuck happened to your family?"

Emily visibly blanched, and Naomi thought she would throw up. Fucking hell, Katie had told the truth.

"Fucking Katie." Emily said, dark tears dripping onto her cheeks. "Naomi, please don't hate me for something that happened years ago. Fuck knows I hate myself enough for it." Emily's voice was rasping, and Naomi could barely make it out through the glass of her window.

"You really are monsters, aren't you?" Naomi said softly, knowing Emily could hear her. She shut her curtains on Emily's crying face, her breath hitching as she threw herself onto her bed.

Emily had killed people, had killed her own family. It didn't fucking matter that she hadn't been killed yet, didn't fucking matter that Emily was nice to her. They were vampires, actual vampires, and she couldn't believe it was just sinking in now.

The worst part, she thought as she continued to sob into her pillow, the worst part was that she'd actually entertained the thought for the briefest of moments, that it would be something wonderful to spend forever with Emily.

Katie was right about that too.

They were both fucking stupid.

V^^^^^V


	8. But I Thought This Wouldn't Hurt A Lot

Her dad woke her up gently, sitting on her bed and brushing her fringe away from her forehead.

"Sweetheart, you're going to be late." He murmured as her eyes blinked open, and she grimaced.

"Shit." She muttered, and he chuckled.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, standing and opening the curtains to her window. She winced at the sunlight, felt somewhat relieved to see it. It meant they wouldn't be at college, and that was something.

"Yeah." She mumbled, sitting up and stretching. "Just tired." And she was. She felt exhausted, mentally and physically.

"Emily not taking you today?" He turned to her, offering a soft smile and she frowned slightly when she saw how understanding his gaze was.

"No." She turned away from him, rubbing her face and getting out of the bed. Right, Emily. What the fuck was she going to do about her?

"Love, if you want to talk about anything, well," He paused at the doorway to her room, leaving so she could get ready for college. "I know I'm your dad, and old, and probably 'uncool' because of that, but," He shrugged his shoulders when she rolled her eyes at him. "I'm very open minded, and I love you, so I'll never judge you, darling." He stared at her for a moment, and she felt her cheeks flush. "Emily seems like a lovely girl." He smiled, softly closing the door behind her.

She blew out a breath, wondering that her dad had gotten the point, and missed it at the same time so entirely. She walked to her wardrobe, leaning against the door before opening it. She could still hear it, 'Emily seems like a lovely girl', and couldn't help but think that yes, she did seem that way didn't she?

That was the bloody problem.

V^^^^^V

"So it would appear that Katie has completely dropped out, which makes sense when you think about it on account of the immortality issue and I've been quite confused as to why vampires were partaking in higher learning anyway." JJ took a large bite of his sandwich, chewing thoughtfully for a moment. "I would imagine it's only a matter of time before the others leave too and we don't have to worry about them anymore." He smiled at Naomi brightly, and she did her best to return it.

"This is good news." Thomas smiled at her, too, and she wondered why the thought wasn't as reassuring to her as it was to them.

"I'd love for things to be normal." Pandora said before grinning, and Naomi couldn't help but feel slightly bitter at how happy they all seemed.

"I am a bit upset that Effy is gone too, though. I thought she was rather beautiful." JJ's cheeks flushed slightly as he looked at his sandwich for a moment, and Thomas laughed and patted him on the back.

"I see your priorities are straight!" Thomas laughed again. "I will be truly happy when Cook is gone for good. He is a bad man." Thomas placed his hand over Pandora's until she looked at him and smiled.

"So Naomi, what universities are you looking at?" JJ munched happily on his sandwich, and Naomi felt her stomach drop slightly as she turned to look at him.

"What?" She took a sip of water. "Honestly, I have no idea. I hadn't even thought about it what with," She gestured, slightly awkward. "Everything."

They all nodded understandingly, and JJ launched into each of the universities he was considering, and their rankings not just within the UK but also the world in general.

Naomi felt the slightest stirrings of panic, because she hadn't thought about it, the future, not once. Not since Thomas and JJ had pulled her away from Emily, and reality as she'd known it had shattered and fallen on the ground around her feet.

Shit, she thought.

Fucking, cocking, shit.

V^^^^^V

She didn't hear from Emily that night, distracted herself by pouring over university hand books and course information, biting her lip because how could she have been so stupid as to overlook something that important?

Her dad made her a cup of tea as she frowned at the booklets spread over the dining room table. She had a sudden awful and jealous thought that Emily and the lot of them didn't need to do this. Katie didn't have to worry about supporting herself in the future. Cook didn't have to bother with finding something that he would both enjoy and be able to study academically. Emily didn't have to stress about choosing the wrong course, and ruining her future forever.

Fucking vampires.

She couldn't live with them, and couldn't seem to live without, either.

V^^^^^V

She slammed her locker door closed, her hand jerking when she saw Emily casually leaning against the locker next to her own.

"Jesus." She frowned, glancing quickly at the hallway filled with students.

"Katie's gone." Emily said, staring at her intently. "Effy too. So you don't have to worry."

Naomi kept her hand on her locker door, gripping her shoulder bag strap with the other.

"She could've killed me." She muttered, frowning when Emily nodded.

"She didn't, though." Emily licked her lips, and Naomi sighed.

"It doesn't fucking matter, Emily. I'm in way over my head here and I think Katie's right, and JJ, and the lot of them." Naomi squared her shoulders. "You're real, alright, but you don't belong here. With normal people." Naomi bit her lip. "With me."

Emily seemed to take a moment to digest her words, before she leant into Naomi quickly and grabbed her by the collar. She pressed her face close to Naomi's cheek.

"When I'm with you I feel like a better person." Emily whispered against her ear, her voice cracking slightly. "I feel like a person, instead of a monster."

Naomi felt her eyes close briefly, a hand reaching up to grab Emily's wrist and she pulled it off her.

"It's too hard." She murmured, avoiding Emily's eyes. "You make me lose control."

She winced as someone ran into her from behind, and she heard the raucous laughter of teenage boys. Emily glared at the boy who was apologising profusely to her back, and Naomi turned toward him.

"Tosser." She pushed him away, as he blinked at her and smirked.

"Actually, it's Michael." He said, and she wanted to roll her eyes.

"Congratulations?" She watched him shake his head at her, looking her up and down as he walked backwards to a group of his mates who were trying not outright laugh at him.

When she turned back to Emily, she was relieved to see she'd already gone.

She sat next to her in politics, trying not to gaze at the empty seats Katie and Effy had left behind them. It did make her feel better to know Katie had gone, but at the same time it didn't change that Emily had killed her family, for Christ's sake. It was like a far more dangerous version of Jerry Springer. 'I'm In Love With A Vampire Who Killed Her Family, And Her Twin Wants To Eat Me For Breakfast'. She snorted, because really.

Emily turned to her, a serious look on her face, as Keiran started to grumble at them about exams, and preparation, and how none of them knew a bloody thing so pay attention because he didn't want to lose his job.

"I'm sorry." Emily blinked at her, guiltily, and Naomi was about to ask her what she was sorry for this time, when something exploded behind her eyes.

She was reading her younger brother a bedtime story, though she didn't have a younger brother so that was bloody weird. She kept having to reach over and hit his arm because he wouldn't be quiet, was trying to make her laugh by making crude jokes he'd heard from a friend of his.

Her sister was sitting impatiently on the other bed in the room, telling her to hurry up because it was getting late and they had to open the shop in the morning. She put the book down, kissing her brother on the forehead as he squirmed, laughing when he screwed up his face and tried to wipe the kiss away.

She got into the bed she shared with her sister, smirking and kicking when she was told to move over and her sister tried to physically push her. She closed her eyes, could hear her brother's even breathing, sighing when her sister started talking about one of the rich boys in town who'd tried to kiss her at the festival the month before, and how he wouldn't stop visiting the shop to buy silly items.

"Who buys just one potato? He fancies me." Her sister whispered, clutching her arm. "As soon as he proposes we're going to move somewhere exciting and exotic. Paris, or Rome. I don't speak French or Italian but I'll hire servants to translate."

She rolled toward her sister, speaking softly in the dark. "And leave me to run the shop by myself? Traitor." She snuggled further into the bed, hearing a snort next to her.

"You will come with me, silly. I will find you a duke or something to marry." She heard her sister yawn. "Actually, if we find a duke I'll divorce Samuel and marry them instead, and you can have him."

They both giggled in the dark.

She had woken up disoriented, some weeks later, after it had happened. Her energy seemed limitless, and as she stared at her hands and arms she wondered that she could see each wrinkle, each hair follicle. She found she couldn't take her eyes away from her life line, tracing it with her thumb.

The hunger was the worst part, the most awful pain she'd ever experienced. She was blind with it when she stumbled toward her house, seeking the only comfort she could think of. Home.

There were flashes of violence, of blood and screaming, and she hated every moment of it. Couldn't seem to pinpoint where it was all coming from, driven by something else inside that was roaring.

Years later, she had seen the painting and dropped to her knees as she stared at it for the first time since she'd been turned.

Her father. She remembered her father showing her how to load a gun.

"It's unladylike." He'd winked at her, helping her hold it. "But I would rather you be unladylike than dead."

She remembered the smell of him, masculine and protective. The way he had tickled her, later, throwing her over his shoulder as she squealed at him to put her down. Her sister thought they were too old for rough housing, her mother frowning at them disapprovingly when she saw them. She never wanted to be too old, though, to muck around with her dad.

She stared at the artistic rendition of her mother, remembering how she'd felt her stomach drop every time she had been told to dress nicer, in case a young gentleman saw her and wanted to marry her.

"You will not find a husband dressing like your brother." Her mother had whispered harshly in her ear, grabbing her arm and forcing her to return to the bedroom and change.

But she had an earlier memory of her mother, the one she clung to above all others. She was three or four, and ill. Couldn't seem to stop coughing, her entire chest hurting with each breath. Her sister was sleeping in the bed on the other side of the room in case she was infectious. Her mother held her close to her chest, humming and brushing her sweaty forehead with her fingertips.

"My little darling…" Her mother sang softly, holding her tightly. "She can fight anything…" Her mother kept singing her made up song, lulling her into sleep, making her feel safe, and like she really could do anything.

It was the image of her brother that had hurt the most, though.

He grew into a little shit, that much was true. But she remembered the day he was born, how she'd held him and just stared at his tiny face as he slept. She was only five, her father kneeling behind her and helping her support his head in her small arms.

"That is your baby brother, Emily." Her dad whispered proudly into her ear. "He is lucky to have you as his older sister, you can protect him until he is old enough to protect you." Her dad kissed the side of her face, and she saw Katie watching them from across the room, as if afraid that if she got too close to the baby she would hurt it.

She had hung the painting in the living room, sitting on the lounge in front of it for hours, until she was too hungry to be still or Katie bodily dragged her away.

When they had moved in with Tony and the rest of them, she had put it in her room. If she was going to do this, go back, and change, she wanted to be reminded why. Wanted them watching over her, as she hadn't been able to do for them.

A bell rang somewhere, and Naomi felt herself pitch forward, hands splayed on the desk and breathing heavily.

"Jesus." She whispered, blinking and trying to shake the memories Emily had just forced into her head.

"I haven't had to look at that painting since I met you, so you know." Emily pushed her chair back, standing.

"I've changed. And I'm not like Katie."

Naomi kept seeing a faint image of James' laughing face in her mind, heard the echo of Emily's dad's voice saying 'You can protect him…' until she finally fell asleep that night, and dreamt of nothing.

V^^^^^V

She told Emily to meet her in the park, seeing her sitting on the bench beneath the big tree, and took a deep breath when she sat down next to her.

"Firstly, never do that again." She kept her voice stern, clutching the edge of the seat with her hands, looking down and seeing her knuckles white. "Secondly, never do that again." She glanced at Emily, saw her nodding.

"I know. I just wanted to show you how it happened." Emily was staring at her own hands, tracing her life line with her thumb, and Naomi shuddered when she saw it.

"He, your brother, he was adorable." Naomi muttered, taking out a cigarette and lighting it.

"He was, when he wasn't being filthy." Emily took out her own cigarette packet, shrugging at Naomi. "I feel like looking normal." She mumbled around the filter, lighting it and inhaling deeply.

"You loved him." Naomi exhaled, blinking at the sky. "And you killed him." She glanced sideways at Emily, as Emily nodded slowly and exhaled her own breath of smoke.

"Unfortunate side effect of vampirism is you usually hurt the people closest to you." Emily blew smoke out of her nostrils, the smoke thicker and heavier than Naomi's exhalations.

"This is meant to comfort me how exactly?" Naomi flicked her cigarette, watching the small bits of ash float around on the breeze before falling to the ground and disappearing into the grass.

"I don't want to be one anymore." Emily said so softly Naomi barely heard her.

"Isn't that impossible?" Naomi asked, raising her eyebrows when Emily looked at her. For the briefest moment she wondered if Emily was about to tell her that if they killed the master vampire, she'd be cured and they could all finish college together, and maybe her and Emily would live happily ever after.

"Completely impossible. There is no turning back." Emily shrugged, looking decidedly sad for an instant, before blinking at her. "At least, not physically."

"And you want to turn me?" Naomi felt her heart rate pick up, frowning slightly when Emily shook her head.

"God no. I wouldn't wish this on anyone." Emily stubbed her cigarette out, pocketing the butt and Naomi felt slightly guilty that she'd thrown hers on the ground. "Immortality is one thing, but we were never built to last. Mortals I mean, humans, whatever. We were built with a time limit, and everything all of a sudden loses meaning when you literally have forever." Emily rubbed her eyes.

"Katie said…" Naomi started, shutting her mouth when Emily rolled her eyes at her.

"Katie says a lot of things, half of which are delusional and half of which are designed to make it look like she's in control. For fuck's sake, she's wrong about so much." Emily lit another cigarette, her shoulders slumping as she exhaled. "I just wanted to spend time with you. You make me laugh, and forget, and I wish I had met you when I was alive." Emily looked at her, and then shook her head, screwing her face up. "No, I wish I'd been alive now, and just gone to college with you like a normal person, asked you out. Been able to get drunk with you, and just laugh without all this shit hanging over my head."

Naomi sighed. "Emily…" She started, but had no idea what to follow it with.

"I can't ever imagine growing old with you, but I just would've liked the option." Emily stubbed out the second cigarette, pocketing the butt with the first one.

Naomi bit her lip, breathing deeply through her nostrils. After a moment she reached out a hand, and gently placed it over Emily's.

She squeezed, pushing away the incredulous thoughts in her head that spoke to her in Katie's voice 'Don't forget that she's mine. Otherwise, I can kill you now. I'm not fucking fussed either way.'

She gave Emily a smile instead, thought, fuck it. Katie was gone.

"Maybe we could pretend, for a bit." She whispered, trying not to take too much delight in Emily's return smile, or the way she felt their hands fit together as if they'd always meant to.

V^^^^^V

Emily picked her up that night, and they went to the cinema, arguing over what to see. She wanted to see an independent film, and Emily wanted to watch the new Pixar animation because, she argued, she had never dreamt of such a thing in life, and was amazed that technology had gone that far just for entertainment purposes.

Naomi had finally rolled her eyes, and agreed with her, and they sat in the back row barely touching as Naomi grumbled at a small child loudly talking to the screen.

"I swear to God I want to gag him." Naomi muttered, Emily laughing beside her.

"Just watch the movie. I've heard it's amazing." Emily smiled at her in the flickering dark, and Naomi felt herself forgetting about vampires and horrible things, focusing on the girl sitting beside her, shyly reaching over to hold her hand.

She was sniffling rather loudly only fifteen minutes into the movie, watching as two people fell in love and grew old together, tears slipping down her cheek when the old woman became sick and died. Emily handed her a tissue, and she hastily wiped her eyes as the old man attached thousands of balloons to his house, and flew off to fulfil the childhood wish of his dead wife.

Emily kept squeezing her hand at the funny moments, at the sad moments, at the beautiful ones. She couldn't seem to brighten up though, from the first sequence. Couldn't seem to shake that it was true, wasn't it? She could never have that with Emily, if she wanted. She didn't know if she wanted it, of course, was alarmingly panicked to think about a whole life with one person since she was only eighteen years old.

But, it would've been nice to have the option.

V^^^^^V

They still avoided each other at college, still acted like they were no longer friends. She made excuses not to go out with JJ, Thomas and Pandora on the weekends, telling them she was revising like crazy by herself and didn't have time for social distractions.

At night Emily would pick her up and drive to their park, or they'd go to the cinema and hold hands in the dark. After a few weeks, she'd let Emily back into her room. Those nights Emily would sit by her bed, and tell her funny stories about the past until she fell asleep. Mainly about Chris, Sid and Cook, never about Katie or Tony.

They did nothing but hold hands, and Naomi was relieved most days because she wasn't sure she could handle anything else. Could still see James in her head, and continually had nightmares about Katie appearing out of nowhere, throwing her into a car and trying to kill her.

She woke up one night, gasping and panicked, shrieking when someone put a hand on her arm.

"Naomi, it's alright!" Emily rubbed her hand over her arm soothingly. "It was just a dream."

"Awful." She croaked, reaching to place a hand over her heart. "Katie killed me." She blinked, wiping sweat from her forehead as the hand on her arm stilled.

"I won't let that happen." Emily said firmly, sliding down to spoon her, making comforting noises.

"Could you," She asked, shutting her eyes and seeing Katie bearing her fangs. "Could you give me a nice dream?" She turned her head to Emily, opening her eyes and looking at her vulnerably. "Just tonight?" She could still feel the panic in her chest, hated the thought of her mind taking her back to the nightmare if she fell back to sleep.

Emily seemed to pause, and when she leant toward her, Naomi saw she looked strangely emotional.

"I'd be honoured." Emily whispered, squeezing her arm. "Thank you." She heard before she drifted back to sleep.

She dreamt of lying on a beach, the sun brightly shining down on her. She was wearing a bikini, and lazily watching the waves. She turned her head, saw Emily sun bathing next to her, felt her eyes drifting over the contours of Emily's body.

When she woke up, she was smiling and could still hear the sound of Emily's laughter as they played in the waves, the sun beating down upon them both.

"Nice dream?" Emily asked softly, and Naomi stretched.

"Actually, yeah." Naomi blinked sleepily at Emily. "There are some perks, then?" She said, pleased when Emily raised her eyebrows at her.

"I'm glad you think so."

Well, that was complicated. The cons certainly outweighed the pros. But as she thought back to her dream, the fact she'd let Emily back into her room at all, well.

She would take whatever positives she could get.

V^^^^^V

"Would you like to invite Emily over for dinner?" Her dad asked one Saturday morning, raising his eyebrows at her over his tea cup.

"Why?" She replied, frowning at her toast.

"Well, you seem to be getting along again and I thought perhaps she could come round, Veronica could as well. We could make a night of it." He shrugged at her.

She felt her mouth drop open. Was her dad asking her to double date?

"Er, no. That's alright." She felt more than alarmed, because her dad looked like he was ready to tackle something, and she hated that she knew what was coming.

"Sweetheart, I'm not as daft as I look. I know she sleeps over a lot more than, well, any of your friends." He looked at her patiently as she felt her face heat up. She wanted to laugh at the word 'sleep', though it was slightly painful at the same time.

"Dad…" She started, but he reached over to take her hand and cut her off.

"If you're happy darling, it's all that matters." He squeezed her hand, before smiling at her and standing, taking a deep breath and she realised he was nervous too.

"I'm, shit, I don't know." She shook her head, not even caring that she'd sworn.

The last time she had felt happy had been before, dancing with Emily and her friends in a club, feeling young and free and not knowing that vampires actually existed.

V^^^^^V

Her mother called her before Emily picked her up, asking about university preferences and whether she felt like visiting London any time soon. It wasn't that far away really, her mother said hopefully, and she bit her lip.

Sure, she'd agreed quickly, maybe sometime soon. Her mother told her she loved her, and she hastily said "Me too." before hanging up and blowing out a breath.

She did love her mother, of course. It was just so hard to say it.

V^^^^^V

"What the fuck?" She stared at the bicycles, and Emily's indulgent grin.

"Just, trust me, alright?" Emily rang one of the bicycle bells, laughing when Naomi rolled her eyes and gestured to the skirt she was wearing.

"I'll flash everyone if I ride that in this." She heaved her bag over her shoulder, shaking her head when Emily winked.

"I'll ride in front, protect your decency if you like." Emily handed her a helmet, clearly pleased as Naomi doubtfully swung her leg over the blue bike, Emily mounting the green.

"Bloody hell." She muttered as Emily started pedalling, and Naomi struggled to remember being an eight year old and enjoying riding a bike.

It was actually fun, she thought, cycling next to Emily and laughing as Emily smugly took her hands off the bars and held them in the air.

"Show off!" She called out, ringing the bell on her handle bars and doing her best to give Emily a disinterested look when she turned around to look at her.

"Someone's trying to impress you." Emily winked, giggling when Naomi flipped her off.

"Because I'm clearly unimpressed by the whole immortality thing." Naomi rolled her eyes, the bike wobbling slightly as she did so.

Emily lead them through Bristol, to the countryside, and finally to a small clearing that looked out onto a surprisingly beautiful lake. Naomi sighed as she looked at it, laying the bike on the ground and taking off the helmet. She put her bag down, walking to the edge of the lake and gazing at the view.

"It's beautiful." She said softly, turning to glance at Emily as she walked over to join her.

"This is where Katie brought me." Emily murmured, giving her a meaningful look until Naomi felt her face say, 'Oh.' Emily shrugged. "It was the last thing I saw before I died, the first thing when I came to, after."

A cool breeze made Naomi shiver, and she frowned. "You lived near here?"

Emily nodded. "Seemed strangely cyclic to make a go of it in the same city I lived in, before."

Naomi looked around, feeling a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature. "Why did you bring me here?"

Emily took her hand. "You wouldn't believe it was my happy place. But I still come here sometimes, and sit, and wonder. I haven't shared it with anyone else."

Naomi looked at her dubiously. "Other than Katie." She felt Emily step closer to her, shaking her head.

"It means nothing to Katie. A lot means nothing to Katie. But I have to remember, where things begin and end. Have to remember that there is a beginning, and an end." Emily gazed out over the lake, smiling wistfully.

"Well, I'm not swimming in the bloody thing. It looks freezing." She stepped back from the edge of the lake, looking for somewhere she could sit down.

Emily let go of her hand, walking over to the bag she'd brought and taking a blanket out of it. She lay it down a few metres from the edge of the lake, and began collecting sticks from the surrounding area.

She brought Emily's bag over to the blanket and sat down with it, feeling vaguely useless. She frowned when something clinked inside, peering in and pulling out a bottle of vodka and a small metal tin. Inside the tin was a neatly rolled cigarette, and when she smelt it she realised it was spliff.

Emily started a small fire, raising an eyebrow at Naomi when she saw what she'd taken out of her bag.

"Snoop." She said, moving to settle beside her, using a long stick to poke the flames.

"What exactly are these for?" Naomi asked, holding up the vodka bottle and spliff.

"Just because I can't have fun doesn't mean you shouldn't." Emily shrugged, glancing at Naomi and waiting.

"What, so I get fucked up and lose my inhibitions or something?" Naomi snorted. "By myself? Nice try." She put the vodka down, holding onto the spliff.

Emily gave her a look. "Of course not, I just brought them to, you know, be nice."

Naomi took out a lighter, holding the flame to the end of the spliff and sucking.

"Well, if you insist." She muttered, inhaling and closing her eyes. Altering her reality seemed strangely attractive, actually. And it was mild, it wasn't like she'd tear her clothes off and throw herself onto Emily if she was just a bit stoned.

Besides, she thought, her mind expanding sideways. Spliff was the perfect drug to deal with thoughts that dealt with forever, and the supernatural, and things she couldn't seem to handle completely sober.

She giggled, crushing the spliff out halfway through, saving the rest for later.

Emily looked at her amused, before pulling a face at her and laughing.

"Feel better?" She asked, leaning close as Naomi snorted, and then giggled again.

"Oh yes, far better equipped to deal with general life business." Naomi waved her hand, wishing she'd thought to bring crisps.

"I have to say, I've been impressed so far." Emily leant back on her hands, tilting her head toward the sky. "I mean, you've had more than enough excuses to carry a wooden stake around with you at all times."

Naomi leant back too, her head feeling heavy so she lay down. "Do they actually work?" She asked, turning to look at Emily.

"I don't think so." Emily shrugged. "I mean, the stake through the heart thing seems a bit strange when you consider our hearts don't actually beat." Emily lay down next to her after a moment, and Naomi continued to gaze at her.

"So sunlight kills you, then?"

Emily frowned at the sky. "I don't know, I just know it hurts. Tony got caught in it, before I knew him. He survived though. And it was after he healed, apparently, he changed." She shrugged. "I honestly don't know if anything kills us."

Naomi turned her head to the sky, her mind unable to think of anything other than 'wow'. "How do you turn someone?" She didn't know where that question came from exactly, just felt her mind open up with everything she had been avoiding asking. They had an unspoken agreement not to remind each other of the vampire issue, but the spliff made her curiosity far stronger than her fear.

"I've never done it." Emily whispered. "But I know it involves draining the blood, and replacing it. Something in our bodies changes it, and when it goes into the other body, if there's more of ours that goes in than whatever normal blood is left inside, it warps it. I don't know. But that's it, really." Emily turned to look at her, gazing at her intently. She returned it, both of them silent.

"You've never turned anyone?" Naomi bit her lip slightly as Emily licked her own.

"Never wanted to." She shrugged and looked away, breaking the gaze.

"How often do you have to, well, feed?" Naomi felt her heart rate pick up as Emily looked at her slightly guilty.

"Everyday." Emily waited, sitting up when Naomi swallowed and frowned.

"So you've been, with people, and biting them, everyday?" Naomi sat up as well, hating the jealousy in her stomach because that was ridiculous, wasn't it?

"Yes." Emily picked up the long stick, poking the fire again.

"Oh." Naomi muttered, staring into the fire. It was stupid to feel like a jealous girlfriend, and yet here she was, picturing Emily against the necks of hundreds of blondes who giggled and held her close.

"It's a necessity, nothing more." Emily took a moment to turn and look at her, and Naomi saw the uncertainty in her face.

"So you were with someone before you came and got me?" Naomi blinked. "With someone every time before you came to me?"

Emily nodded. "I'm always full when I see you, it's safer." Emily played with the blanket, and Naomi reached for the vodka bottle and opened it, taking a long swallow.

"Right, well, I have no clue what to say to that." She swallowed again, wincing when it burnt her throat.

Emily blinked at her, her face clearing as she seemed to paused. "You're not jealous, are you?"

Naomi scoffed, drinking a final time, and twisting the lid back onto the bottle. She put it on the ground next to her, before turning to Emily and taking a deep breath.

"Don't be stupid." She said, leaning forward suddenly and pressing her lips to Emily's.

She felt the alcohol warming her stomach, felt slightly dizzy as it combined with the spliff in her blood and she felt the world tip. She kept her lips against Emily's, Emily slowly starting to push back.

"You're sure?" Emily mumbled against her lips, pulling back for a moment even with her hands reaching to take her shoulders.

"Of course not." Naomi hastily answered, leaning forward again.

Emily met her half way, opening her mouth after a moment and moaning when their tongues met. Naomi grabbed at Emily's waist, pulling her toward her, Emily pushing back until Naomi was forced to lean back, and she was slightly alarmed at how much she liked having a lapful of Emily.

Emily shifted her knees over Naomi's until she was sitting in her lap, and Naomi stretched her arms around Emily, pulling her closer.

Their lips slipped over each other's, Naomi opening her mouth and groaning as Emily shifted her hips forward, pressing their chests together. She clutched at Emily's back, tilting her head sideways and pressing their mouths so hard together that all of a sudden the entire world consisted of the mouth eagerly kissing her own, the scent of Emily's skin, the hands tangling in her hair.

There was something sharp in her mouth and she flinched, and Emily froze, before moving so quickly away from her that Naomi still had her eyes closed and mouth open before she realised that Emily was gone.

"Sorry." Emily said shakily, on the other side of the fire, her eyes squeezed shut. "Fuck."

Naomi looked at her dazedly, reaching up to touch the tiny cut on the inside of her lip. It didn't hurt, not that much.

"You can't control that?" She asked when Emily finally opened her eyes, and when she spoke her teeth looked normal.

"Not always. It's worse than being a teenage boy, I swear." She muttered, looking apprehensively at Naomi and staying away from her.

"Right." Naomi said, adjusting her shirt. "Well." She looked around awkwardly, trying to get her breathing under control. "It's entirely unfair that I'm a bit fucked up and you're not."

Emily slowly crawled back to the blanket, making sure to keep some distance between them.

"There's a lot of things that are entirely unfair." She murmured, before giving Naomi a strained smile. "I guess we should head back?"

Naomi blinked in surprise, feeling slightly disappointed. But what had she been expecting? She nodded instead, helping Emily to pack up as best as she could, feeling still dizzy and out of it, but it would make the bike riding an experience.

They got back to Naomi's house an hour later, Naomi feeling far more tired than stoned or drunk anymore. She nearly unbalanced herself as she got off the bike, Emily reaching a steadying hand out to place on the small of her back. She loved when Emily did that.

"Thanks." She said softly, turning to look at Emily in the moonlight.

"Thanks for coming, and not freaking out." Emily said back, her eyes flickering to her mouth.

"I think I hit the point of no return a long time ago." She shook her head slightly, her eyes slipping shut when Emily leant forward to kiss her cheek. She moved her head at the last moment forcing their lips to touch.

"You can change your mind at any time." Emily whispered when she pulled away, only to lean their foreheads together. "I'll understand."

Naomi sighed. "I know." She felt herself smile, because it was true.

V^^^^^V

Her dad smiled at her, looking her up and down for a moment, before she felt herself blush. She'd put a bit more effort into her outfit, and realised she'd already told her dad she was going out with Emily that night.

"You look lovely." He said, and she shrugged.

"It's nothing." She held her bag tighter against her, unsuccessfully shielding herself from him. He seemed to take the hint, though, giving her a sad smile.

"Well, have a wonderful time and be back," He seemed to flounder for a moment. "At a reasonable time." He turned away from her, and she felt a stab of guilt.

"Dad." She said, waiting for her to turn around. "Thanks."

"For?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes, but then smiled at him.

"Just being generally great, really." She looked up at him, feeling strangely emotional as he reached out to touch her face.

"I don't want to lose you again, love." He gave her a slightly watery smile. "And you're a bright girl, and beautiful, and whatever decision you've made, you have my support." He seemed to think for a moment, quickly adding. "Your mother's, too."

She smiled at him, reaching forward to hug him tightly.

"I really like her, Dad." She mumbled into his shoulder, unable to look him in the eye and admit something like that.

He stiffened, and then squeezed her into a tighter hug.

"If she breaks your heart she'll have to deal with me." He chuckled into her hair, and she felt him take a deep, shuddery breath. When he pulled back, he wiped his eyes, and she felt the need to wipe hers as well. "And I'm actually quite relieved I don't have to worry about you falling pregnant."

"Oh God, Dad." She shook her head, screwing her face up, as he grinned at her kindly.

"Have a good night, love." He leant forward and kissed her forehead, and she was relieved when a car horn tooted outside and she could leave this alarmingly emotional interaction, and what she had just admitted, for the first time, out loud.

V^^^^^V

They sat in the park with a bottle of wine, Emily watching the stars as Naomi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, staring at her.

"What do Tony and the rest of them do, exactly?" She asked, taking another drink and taking a drag from the spliff Emily had been kind enough to get for her.

"Well, Tony had these grand ideas of universities and careers but I don't think the others really went for it." Emily put her arms under her head, smiling at Naomi. "Michelle talked him down, said they didn't have to go that far to be able to, well, not exist solely as vampires."

Naomi exhaled, wondering for a moment about her own future.

"Sid and Chris were arguing about an 'Old Tony'?" She raised her eyebrows at Emily, finishing the spliff and feeling a grin stretching across her face.

Emily blinked thoughtfully, before shrugging slightly. "He was worse than any of us, once. I didn't know him then though, so for me he's always been this Tony." Emily went quiet, and Naomi lay down next to her. "The sunlight nearly killed him, or did something like it."

"So what, the near death experience made him appreciate life or something?" Naomi frowned, staring up at the stars. There was so much she couldn't comprehend, the least of which was the fact that there were so many stars in the sky, so many different planets and solar systems. She thought of Cassie and extraterrestrials, and blinked because Jesus Christ she was stoned.

"Yeah." Emily rolled her head toward her, smiling.

"Should we lock Katie outside on a sunny day and see if she has a change of heart, then?" She giggled, though it fell short when she noticed that Emily had frowned.

"I don't know how to help her." Emily sat up, putting their belongings back into the bag she'd brought, and Naomi felt like she was deflating with disappointment because she didn't want to go home yet.

"Already?" She sat up, sighing.

Emily gave her a small smile. "It's late, and your dad won't like it if I keep you out all night."

Naomi snorted. "Please, he's just glad I won't get pregnant." She grimaced slightly when Emily blinked at her in surprise. "He knows you're, well. He knows." Naomi mumbled.

Emily leant forward and kissed her quickly, pulling back before Naomi had time to react.

As Emily pulled the car up outside her house, Naomi took her time unbuckling her seatbelt.

"Coming in?" She asked, avoiding looking at Emily because she sounded far too hopeful and hated it.

"I can't." Emily told her, turning to face her. "I haven't, well. I didn't have time after college before I picked you up and…" Emily shook her head. "Anyway."

Naomi blinked. "Right." She said, wondering that the thought was relieving as opposed to terrifying. "Well then." She leant toward Emily, grinning as their lips touched.

It was the spliff, probably, that made her moan before their tongues had even touched. Probably the wine that made her grasp at Emily's shoulders, and pull her half out of the driver's seat and onto her. Naomi felt her head pushed back against the window, felt the eagerness with which Emily kissed her.

She wasn't sure who deepened it, but when Emily moved to her neck, she bit her lip. "Oh God." She groaned as one of Emily's hands moved to her tit, and cupped it, her thumb finding her nipple and pressing.

She clutched at Emily's shoulders, Emily's lips against her neck, tongue licking a path back to her cheek, before Emily pushed their mouths together again. She felt the sharpness, felt Emily still, and wanted to swear because it was just getting good.

Emily pulled back, her eyes and mouth squeezed shut, and Naomi brought a hand forward to cup Emily's cheek.

"Emily." She whispered. "Emily." She said it more firmly. "It's okay."

Emily shook her head, making is if to move back, and Naomi brought her other hand to other side of Emily's face and held it.

"Emily look at me." She whispered, staring resolutely into Emily's eyes as she opened them.

"I don't want you to see." Emily mumbled, bringing up one of her own hands to cover her mouth.

"I want to see." Naomi whispered again, and she did.

Emily hesitated, before opening her lips slightly and moving her hand away, wincing when she revealed the fangs in her mouth.

"Oh." Naomi couldn't stop staring at them. She shakily moved one of her hands to touch them, Emily's eyes slipping shut when Naomi's thumb lightly dragged across one of the fangs.

Naomi pressed the flesh of her thumb to one of the teeth, wincing slightly when the pressure broke the skin. They were sharp.

Emily's eyes opened in panic, but Naomi stared at her resolutely, slipping her thumb into Emily's mouth. Emily groaned, low in her throat, wrapping her lips around the thumb and sucking.

Naomi pulled her thumb away after a moment, realising somewhere through the haze of spliff that she was incredibly fucking turned on.

She bit her lip, gazing into Emily's eyes when they opened.

It was like she was watching herself when she tilted her head to the side, and offered her neck. Thought the surprise on Emily's face should've mirrored her own, and yet she wanted it. Wanted to be the one who satisfied her at least in some way.

"No." Emily mumbled, but Naomi shook her head.

"I want you to." Naomi smiled at Emily, did her best to make it reassuring, even as Emily visibly shuddered in front of her.

"No." Emily mumbled again, even as she was leaning forward.

Naomi gently moved her hands to the back of Emily's neck, and pulled her to her own. She felt Emily press her mouth, open, against her and then the slightest tinge of pain. She hissed when the skin opened, though it was as much because it hurt as because it felt, well, fucking incredible. Emily was so gentle, so loving, the horror of it was forgotten.

Naomi ran her hands over Emily's back, and Emily moved one of her own back to Naomi's chest. She shifted her legs awkwardly over the space between the seats, ignoring the discomfort of the doorhandle digging into her back. Emily brought her own legs forward, climbing on top of her, and again Naomi marvelled at just how much she enjoyed having Emily this close.

One of them groaned, but she wasn't sure who. Felt Emily's hips lightly grinding down onto her own, felt her own hands settle below Emily's waist and aid her movements.

"Fuck." She muttered, lifting her own hips in a futile attempt to get closer to Emily.

Emily pulled back, then, licking her lips and resting her forehead against Naomi's. Emily's body stilled for a moment, and she gently took her hand away from Naomi's chest, and brought her thumb up to her mouth and bit it.

They stared at each other as Emily coated the wound on her neck with her own blood, and Naomi forgot that it had hurt at all once it healed.

"That was…" Emily whispered, her eyes slipping shut.

"Uhuh." Naomi whispered back, before Emily leant backwards and turned to slide her body back into the driver's seat.

"You can come in now." Naomi blew out a breath, her eyelids hooded as she straightened, wincing only slightly when her back cracked.

"You're sure?" Emily asked, and Naomi wanted to roll her eyes. Emily giggled, awkwardly. "Right, of course."

Naomi giggled as they walked up her stairs in the dark, trying not to make any noise. She was unbalanced, though, and kept falling into the wall as Emily snorted behind her.

She threw off her jacket when they were in her room, carelessly throwing it into a corner, and she grinned at Emily when Emily giggled.

"You're wasted." Emily said, before snorting again. "Fuck, so am I."

Naomi nodded, smiling tantalisingly at Emily. She laughed, though, ruining any illusion of sexiness when she tripped over her own feet and fell on the bed. She clambered onto it, rolling onto her back and opening her arms.

Emily kicked her shoes off, teetering slightly, before climbing onto the bed toward Naomi and laying her head onto Naomi's chest.

Naomi wrapped her arms around her and closed her eyes with a grin.

"Vampire." Naomi giggled, turning her head so she could press her lips against Emily's forehead. "Honestly."

Emily lifted her face, kissing Naomi clumsily.

"Please, it took me years to get used to it, and I am one." Emily smiled against her mouth, and Naomi found she had difficulty keeping her eyes open.

"I've been meaning to ask," she mumbled. "What about when I've got my period?" She snorted when Emily groaned into her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms tighter around her.

"Fucking hell." Emily gave her a pointed look as she propped herself up on one arm and broke the embrace. "Do you actually want to know?"

Naomi yawned, loudly, blinking at Emily for a moment before screwing her face up. "Possibly not." She said.  
Emily smirked at her, and Naomi pulled her back down.

"What do you want to dream about tonight?" Emily nuzzled her, actually nuzzled her, and Naomi giggled at the feeling.

"Something nice. Relaxing. Surprise me?" She felt Emily's hand lightly stroking her arm, and fell asleep with a smile on her face.

She dreamt she was lying on a yacht, topless and sunbathing while the ocean gently rocked her. The sun was beating down on her face, and her skin felt lovely and warm. There was music playing on an old fashioned radio, and she didn't wonder how it had gotten on the boat. It was music she hadn't heard before, and as a shadow fell across her vision, blocking out the sun, she heard Emily's voice.

"This is my favourite song."

Emily moved to sit down near her, also topless and wearing just a sarong. She was tanned, and smiling.

"Hungry?" She offered Naomi a platter of different coloured food, and Naomi eyed them all, only barely registering that Emily was eagerly eating from the tray.

"Not especially." She smiled, closing her eyes and propping her head up with one arm. The movement caused her chest to jut out slightly, and when she opened her eyes Emily was staring at her tits.

Emily blushed, and there was something that ached, even within the dream, to see it. To watch Emily's chest as it rose and fell with breath, until she realised she was blatantly staring at Emily's tits as well.

"I could put shirts on us?" Emily asked shyly, licking her lips and setting down the tray.

Naomi beckoned with one hand. "Or you could come here?"

Emily grinned before crawling over to her, laying her head on Naomi's chest. Emily's hand began to trace lines on Naomi's stomach, and Naomi swore she could actually feel it.

"This is nice." She murmured, turning to kiss Emily's forehead, relishing the sunshine and warmth.

Her own hand trailed along Emily's bare shoulder, and she could feel Emily's tits pressing into her skin.

Emily lifted her head, turning to face her, and Naomi snaked an arm around her shoulders and pulled.

Emily's lips were warm, inviting. Her mouth opened, and Naomi slipped her tongue into it, Emily's hand moving from her stomach to her breast as she did so. Emily cupped her tit, her thumb lightly swiping over her nipple, before she tore her mouth away from Naomi's to replace her thumb with her tongue, gently sucking the nipple into her mouth.

Naomi moaned, her hands grasping Emily by the shoulders, her hair. Emily was rolling her nipple in her mouth, and after a moment lifted her head to give Naomi a cheeky smile.

"Is this still nice?" Emily's voice rasped, and Naomi smirked back. She lifted her head and caught Emily's mouth in reply, pushing against her until they had rolled over and Naomi was on top.

Naomi ran a hand over Emily's chest as her tongue pressed against Emily's. She moved her hips, slipping her legs between Emily's and reaching one hand down to grab the outside of Emily's thigh and pull the leg around her waist.

"Jesus." Emily moaned against her mouth, before gasping when Naomi brought the hand at her thigh around to slip between their bodies and press against her cunt.

Naomi's eyes jerked open, and Emily jumped, startled. She leant away from Naomi looking incredibly guilty, and still somewhat stoned, though Naomi could only see her by moonlight.

"Fuck." Naomi croaked, realising she was incredibly wet and Emily was no where near being close enough to her, had instead rolled to the far side of the bed and gone quiet.

"I'm really sorry, I'm a bit stoned and got carried away." Emily whispered, and Naomi shook her head, still half asleep and slightly confused. "I can go?"

"Or you could come here?" Naomi reached an arm out, and remembered saying that exact thing in the dream. Or whatever the fuck that was.

Naomi didn't hesitate when Emily was close enough, grabbed her by the shirt and pulled until their lips slammed together. She kept pulling on Emily's shirt even as she pushed back against her mouth. She had never been this turned on in her life, ignored the fumbling they hadn't had in the dream, or the exasperated pause when Naomi kicked the covers off her legs so Emily could lie on her properly.

Emily slipped her thigh between Naomi's, pressing hard enough to make Naomi gasp. She moved her hands to Emily's back, quickly pulling her shirt up and though she hadn't intended it, was nonetheless agreeable when Emily took it as a sign to take it off.

Naomi cupped Emily's tits, staring at them in the moonlight before bringing her mouth to one and sucking.

"Harder." Emily groaned out, holding herself above Naomi and squeezing her eyes shut.

Naomi complied, raking her teeth over the nipple before pulling back and looking at Emily, who had her eyes closed and mouth open, fangs extended. Emily looked down at her after a moment, eyes hooded, and Naomi felt herself smile and tilt her neck to the side with a raised eyebrow. She was breathing heavily, and Emily looked at her softly for a moment before leaning down and lifting Naomi's shirt.

Emily licked her stomach, placing kisses against her hipbones, and dragging the waistband on her pyjama pants down with one hand, her lips following. Naomi lifted her hips, and Emily pulled the pants off her, throwing them somewhere into the dark room.

Naomi felt her legs open of their own accord, exposing herself completely, and would've bothered about decency if she wasn't so fucking ready. She remembered the club bathroom stall, and trembled with anticipation.

Emily licked at the juncture between her groin and thigh, and Naomi hissed and spread her legs wider. Emily lifted one of Naomi's legs over her shoulder as she settled herself between Naomi's legs, running her other hand over Naomi's stomach lightly and grinning at her before dipping her head.

Holy fucking Jesus Christ, Naomi thought as her eyes slammed shut and her back arched. Emily's tongue licked the length of her cunt, before fluttering at the skin just beneath her clit.

Naomi reached blindly either side of her, finding nothing but blankets and gripping them as Emily moved her tongue slowly but surely over her clit, the hand on Naomi's stomach snaking it's way down until Emily lifted her head away, and replaced the motions of her tongue with a finger.

"Alright?" She whispered, and Naomi felt herself give a shaky smile.

"Oh yeah." She moaned as Emily added a little more pressure, smirking.

Emily's head moved to the juncture of her groin and thigh, and Naomi braced herself for the slight pain of Emily's bite. But it didn't come. Instead she felt the bed shift slightly as Emily moved back up her body, kissing a path back to her mouth, before nestling her hips so they were positioned between Naomi's legs. Naomi moved her hands to the waist band of Emily's jeans, pushing insistently until Emily sat back, removing her hand from her clit to undo them and slide them off, her underwear following.

Emily leant forward again, Naomi sighing when Emily's hand resumed the motions against her clit.

Emily leant down, kissing Naomi softly, before turning her head to Naomi's neck. Emily's finger slowed, and Naomi felt Emily move her hand lower. She was about to ask what was happening when Emily bit her neck, simultaneously sliding two fingers deep inside her, and Naomi cried out.

"Fuck!" Naomi was breathing so heavily, was so lost in sensation she didn't care if anyone heard her, let alone her dad.

Emily pulled her fingers out of Naomi, sliding them in again as she sucked at Naomi's neck, making the smallest of noises in the back of her throat. Naomi clutched at Emily's shoulders, her hips slowly grinding down into Emily's hand.

She wasn't entirely sure what she was doing, but one of Naomi's hands eased between their bodies, her fingers finding Emily's clit after a moment, and Emily sucked harder at her neck. She moved her fingers experimentally, groaning when Emily curled her fingers inside her in response.

Naomi could feel a liquid heat low in her stomach, couldn't quite grasp onto any other concept than "More."

Emily added a third finger, and Naomi tangled her free hand in Emily's hair, pulling Emily even closer into her neck.

Emily was rocking her hips against Naomi's hand, causing the back of it to grind into Naomi's clit. Naomi was swimming in sensation, an orgasm approaching so fast her toes were already starting to curl.

Emily thrust her hips forward faster and Naomi began to pant against Emily's ear.

"Fuck. Please don't stop."

It was getting too much. Emily's fingers curling, her hips thrusting, her mouth sucking. The feel of Emily against her fingers, familiar and foreign all at once, and the shudders going through her as she moaned into Naomi's neck.

"Fuck, I'm going to come." Naomi moaned breathlessly, before time and everything else suddenly halted and stood still.

"Me too." Emily groaned out, before sucking on her neck so hard Naomi thought she was going to pass out.

She was gasping for breath, felt like she was standing in the ocean with a wave building behind her that she couldn't see. It would obliterate her, crash over her head and send her flipping through the foam.

She welcomed it.

V^^^^^V

She woke up, feeling groggy and completely disoriented. The sun was shining through her window, and Emily was gone.

On her bedside table was a large bottle of orange juice, a love heart drawn on the front in black marker.

She rolled onto her back, and laughed. She threw an arm over her face as flashes from the night before went through her mind.

Well, that settled it. She was definitely, at the very least, slightly gay.

V^^^^^V

Emily picked her up when the sun went down, grinning when she opened the door and smirked.

"Hi." Emily blinked at her, and Naomi snorted.

"Hi yourself." She began to close the door behind her when her dad grabbed it, opening it and smiling widely at both of them.

"Emily! How nice to see you!" He beamed at them, and Naomi was alarmed to see him gesturing behind him.

"Care to come inside before you two head out?"

Naomi shook her head. "Thanks, Dad, but…"

"Oh come on, just for a minute. I haven't seen Emily here in a long time!" He raised his eyebrows, seeming ridiculously happy for no reason.

"Well, we could for a minute?" Emily turned to her, shrugging slightly, and Naomi felt her eyes close briefly.

"Fine." She muttered, gesturing for Emily to go in ahead of her and rolling her eyes as she shut the door.

"Tea? Water? Anything?" Her dad asked, untying an apron he was wearing and Naomi thought, Christ.

"No thank you." Emily was smiling, as if highly amused by the entire situation.

"It's a shame you two are going out tonight, I've cooked a roast. Veronica is coming over, Naomi might've told you about her?" He looked at them expectantly, Naomi wanting to vomit at how eagerly nice he was trying to be.

"Yes, yes of course she has." Emily smiled at him, standing awkwardly next to Naomi, raising her eyebrows at her briefly as if to say 'Who?'.

"Unfortunately, Dad, we already have plans and will be late if we don't," Naomi moved her hands, gesturing toward the front door. "Get a move on, so…"

"It smells delicious Mr Campbell." Emily nodded her head, sniffing the air for effect.

"Oh, please, call me Steve! And you really should come over one night for dinner, my cooking isn't so bad is it sweetheart?" He raised his eyebrows at Naomi, and for a brief moment she saw a look in his eyes that belied his happiness, showed how nervous he actually was.

She felt something in her chest squeeze slightly as she realised how hard he was trying.

"Sure, Dad. We'll have dinner with you one night." She leaned over to kiss his cheek softly, ignoring the fact that Emily couldn't bloody eat, could she?

He smiled at her, genuinely, all the way to his eyes. "Don't be too late tonight, love."

Naomi wanted to laugh at the awkward hug her dad gave Emily, Emily looking over his shoulder at her in alarm, before they waved goodbye and headed to the car.

"He's properly lovely, your dad." Emily said, reaching over to squeeze her hand as Naomi twisted in her seat to look back at him, standing on the doorstep and waving happily.

Naomi waved back a final time, before leaning over to kiss Emily on the cheek.

"So are you."

When they arrived at the club, Chris was waiting outside bouncing slightly on his heels. His face brightened when he saw her, and he picked her up when he hugged her, spinning her around.

Emily was shaking her head at them when he put her down.

"It just, like, warms my heart to see you, yeah?" He grinned at her, and Naomi looked between Emily and Chris for a moment.

"It's nice to see you too?" She said finally, as he winked at Emily.

"Nice one." He turned around, beckoning them impatiently and moving toward the doors to the club.

Emily snorted at the look on Naomi's face, before grabbing her hand and dragging her toward the bouncer. He hardly gave them a second glance as they entered, and Naomi's mind flashed back to when she'd first gone out with them, and everything she hadn't known then.

Sid gave her a slightly awkward wave when he saw her, and Cassie practically leapt onto her to give her a hug.

"I'll miss you." Cassie whispered in her ear, Naomi barely hearing her over the music.

"What?" She shouted, pulling away to look at Cassie's face. Cassie just shrugged at her, shaking her head, quickly kissing her cheek before stepping back and turning away to face Sid.

Emily jostled her way through the bodies around them, bringing her an alcopop and handing it to her.

Naomi looked at it, shrugging as she took a sip. It was sickly sweet, and she raised her eyebrows at Emily.

"No pills, then?" She shouted, feeling slightly disappointed.

Emily just winked at her, turning around to push back through the crowd of dancers and disappearing.

Naomi sipped her drink, annoyed when elbows or crotches came into contact with her. She rolled her eyes when she saw Michael, the boy who had run into her at college, looking at her shyly and dancing. He seemed to take her acknowledgement of him as some form of invitation, and moved until he was dancing in front of her.

"Hi." He yelled, smiling at her. So he was partly attractive, she thought, but it wasn't like he could compete with a vampire.

"Hey." She yelled back, nodding her head at him and looking away disinterestedly.

"How's it going?" He persisted, and she frowned at him slightly, before sighing.

"Not bad." This was one of the most mundane conversations she'd had in her life.

"I think you're really beautiful." He shouted as the track ended, his voice loud over the decidedly more quiet beginnings of the next one.

He looked around him, seemingly embarrassed, before shrugging at her and giving her a shy grin. Fuck's sake, she thought, as the grin made his eyes twinkle and highlighted the ridiculously cute dimples in his cheeks.

She smiled despite herself.

"Thanks." She said back, sipping from her drink, seeing Emily returning in her periphery.

Michael smiled at Emily, and Emily returned it easily. She put something in her mouth before turning to Naomi and grabbing her by the back of the neck, opening her mouth quickly when their lips met.

Naomi looked startled for a moment, before Emily's tongue deposited a pill in her mouth, and the kiss brought back memories of the night before. Emily pulled away from her, licking her lips and smirking, and Naomi swallowed.

She smiled at Emily, toying with the ends of her shirt, before looking quickly toward Michael. She frowned when she couldn't see him, and shrugged, figuring he'd gone off to find someone else.

Emily turned around, grinding her arse into Naomi's crotch and Naomi laughed, moving her hands above her head and dancing, only bringing an arm down every so often to take a drink from the bottle she held.

She pulled Emily to her throat when the pill kicked in, grinning at her madly when she pulled away after. Chris, Cassie and Sid found them sometime later, and they all danced together, laughing at nothing.

Naomi kept forgetting, glancing at all of them, as Emily kissed her quickly on the lips, as the track changed and Chris yelled out "I fucking love this song!", as Sid did a ridiculous impression of the robot dance and Cassie clapped delightedly, that they weren't just a normal group of friends out for a laugh.

She was crashing by two am when she decided she'd had enough and needed her bed. Her dad would hopefully be too ensconced in Veronica to realise how late she was.

She waved goodbye to Chris and Sid, Cassie hugging her unexpectedly again.

"I'm sorry." She whispered into Naomi's ear, and Naomi felt her stomach drop even as she pulled back and raised her eyebrows at her.

"What for?" Naomi asked, blinking and waiting for Emily to bring the car around.

"You'll know." Cassie replied, before grinning and squealing as Chris threw her over his shoulder.

"Come on dancing queen, back to the dance floor!" He slapped Cassie on the arse as she laughed, re-entering the club as Naomi frowned at their retreating forms.

Emily tooted the horn, and it made Naomi jump.

"Jesus." Naomi muttered, getting into the car.

"Sorry." Emily said bashfully, before gunning the engine and driving them to Naomi's.

"I feel like I could sleep for days." Naomi yawned as they pulled up outside her house, and Emily reached a hand over to lightly brush her cheek with her fingertips.

Naomi smiled at her sleepily, and Emily gave her an intensely soft look before leaning forward and pressing their lips together.

The kiss wasn't heated, or rushed, and Naomi sighed into it. It was just lovely, really. Like a promise of things to come.

She waved goodbye to Emily's car as it drove off down the street, and kept smiling as she unlocked her front door and softly made her way upstairs. The house was quiet, and she was thankful her dad and Veronica must've gone to bed hours previously so she didn't hear them, well, doing anything she wouldn't be able to forget.

She kicked her shoes off, softly shutting her door. When she looked at her bed she smiled, remembering the night before, remembering the feel of Emily feeding off her on the dance floor.

Something hit her, hard, in the back of the head and she fell forward with a groan of pain. Before she could do anything, her head was yanked back by it's hair, and her face was slammed into her carpet, hard enough that she was sure she felt her nose break. She wanted to scream, but a hand wrapped around her throat and began to drag her toward her window.

A foot connected with her stomach, so hard she lost her breath, and then she was picked up and thrown through her now open window. She hit the ground with a dull thud, her arm and hip hurting more than they ever had. Something landed gracefully next to her, and she wheezed, struggling to get enough breath to be able to cry out.

She was picked up and carried quickly to a car and thrown into the back seat. She groggily looked around, heard the driver door open and close, and the engine start. Saw nothing but a flash of leopard print on the shoulder of the person driving.

She whimpered slightly, and Katie turned around to look at her.

"You fucking stupid gay slut, this is why I don't do warnings!" Katie gunned the engine, and Naomi finally sucked in a breath and let out a cry of pain. "Oh go on then bitch, cry if you want to. I don't fucking care. You should've listened." Katie was shaking her head, slamming her palm into the steering wheel and breaking it. "Now look what you made me do!"

Naomi felt like vomiting as the car swerved dangerously, and then came to a stop.

"Right, here will have to do then. Not what I fucking wanted but that's fine." Katie slammed her car door, opening the back and dragging Naomi out by her ankles. "Stupid little whore, what did you think? You could take her away from me? Fat chance. Fat fucking chance."

Naomi was moaning as Katie threw her ankles hard onto the ground, and she curled into a ball, trying to protect herself.

"Right. This will teach both of you." Katie muttered, before pushing her onto her back and straddling her. Her hip felt broken, her ribs and arm hurt, but she struggled to push Katie off her. Katie was laughing. "Nice try babes, but you've not got a fucking chance."

Naomi reached out blindly as Katie leant toward her neck, fangs extended.

Naomi cried out again as Katie roughly bit her neck, it hurting far more than Emily's bite ever had. Emily, Naomi thought as tears were leaking out of her eyes. Emily.

She was starting to lose consciousness as her hand, groping next to her feebly, found something hard. She brought it up with all her strength, knocking it against Katie's head. Katie brought her head back, laughing as blood dripped from her lips. Naomi wanted to be sick when she saw it, saw her own blood.

"That's hilarious. Cheers." Katie took the rock out of her hand, throwing it behind her. She trailed a fingernail down Naomi's cheek. "Ready, babes?" Katie smirked, and Naomi finally managed to scream as Katie tore her neck open.

V^^^^^V


	9. And I Never Wanted Anything From You

She woke up in her bed, comfortable and well rested. She stretched, her eyes jerking open as images of Katie attacking her came rushing back. What a horrible fucking dream, she thought, frowning because it had felt so real. She twisted her ankles beneath her covers, felt her face for signs of the struggle she could've sworn had happened. But nothing felt broken, or bruised, or painful. She felt fucking wonderful, actually, as if she'd never been so rested in her life.

She blew out a breath in relief, shaking her head at herself as she sat up and looked around her room. No matter how fucking tired she was, she decided, she would still ask Emily in to help her dreams along from now on. She smirked, since if Emily was going to be spending all her nights with her there were other ways they could ensure she got a good night's sleep. Fuck's sake, she thought, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing, she was worse than a horny teenage boy now. Officially.

Fuck she was hungry though. She struggled to remember if she'd managed to consume anything the night before, marvelling at her lack of a hangover. She paused with her hand on the doorknob. What had she done when Emily had dropped her off the night before? She remembered walking into her bedroom, looking at her bed and smiling, and then being attacked. Had she passed out? Launched straight into the dream? She looked down at the pyjamas she was wearing, no memory of putting them on and actually getting into bed in her mind.

She must've been completely wasted, she thought. Maybe the excessive feeding when Emily and her had, well, she smirked because Jesus fucking Christ, and then the feeding at the club, maybe that had made her pass out completely? She nodded, opening her bedroom door and stepping toward the stairs. The combination of the blood loss, and the drugs, and whatever else had probably meant that she'd passed out as soon as she'd gotten into bed, and just didn't remember actually getting ready for it because she was so fucking out of it.

She frowned, pausing midway down the stairs and looking over her shoulder and out of the large window that overlooked the stairway. Holy fucking Jesus, she thought, it was night time? Had she slept all day? She snorted at herself, wondering how the fuck she would explain that to her dad. At least, she shrugged lightly, sleeping that long seemed to have cured her of the awful hangover she was expecting.

She nearly groaned as something delicious wafted up the stairs and hit her nostrils. Fuck, she was so hungry. Whatever her dad was cooking was making her insides actually hurt with hunger.

"Hi Dad." She smiled at him as he turned around to blink at her in surprise, a bubbling saucepan sitting on the stove in front of him.

"Sweetheart, I didn't know you were home!" He seemed slightly confused, but stepped toward her and kissed her hair.

She felt her eyes slip shut, the smell of the cooking overwhelming her momentarily.

"What are you cooking? It smells amazing!" She leant toward the stove, looking into the bubbling liquid and frowning as the scent seemed to lessen the closer she got to it.

"Just a stew love, I thought I'd put it in the fridge and you could help yourself during your study breaks. Your mum used to swear by it, and not to toot my own horn but it's certainly one of the best dishes I can make. And it lasts!" He swirled a wooden spoon through the stew, lifting the spoon to his lips to taste it and nodding in satisfaction. "I don't know why I haven't made it for you before, care to try it?" He held the spoon toward her, and she grinned.

"Yeah, of course. I'm so hungry I'd eat cardboard right now." She leant toward the spoon, her stomach roiling as the scent of the liquid hit her nostrils. Her dad tipped the stew into her mouth, and looked at her with his eyebrows raised expectantly as she swallowed.

It tasted absolutely awful. She spun away from it covering her mouth, running into the downstairs bathroom and vomiting so violently she wasn't sure she'd be able to stop.

Her dad pounded on the door in alarm.

"I'm okay!" She called out, resting her head against the toilet seat, reaching up blindly to flush the toilet. She stared into the bowl, at the thick red vomit that had come out of her body. It looked like blood, and for a moment she was sure she would be sick again.

"Darling, I'm sorry! I'll make you something else!" Her dad called out, sounding mortifyingly concerned.

She cracked the door open, self consciously wiping her mouth with the back of her hand as she offered him a weak smile.

"I don't know why that happened." She frowned in embarrassment, wondering what the fuck was wrong with her. Had Emily taken too much out of her? Was it possible, her stomach dropped suddenly, that she'd caught some sort of disease through Emily? After all, who the fuck were the other people Emily had fed off, and fuck knows what they had, and could vampire fangs transmit human diseases from one person to another?

"Oh love, don't worry. Maybe there's something in it you're allergic to?" Her dad reached toward her, drawing her into a hug and rubbing her back. "I'll make you a sandwich, shall I? Some tea?"

The smell hit her again as her face was pressed to her dad's shoulder. The delicious smell that had drawn her to the kitchen in the first place.

"Sure." She mumbled into the material of his shirt, pressing her face closer and inhaling through her nostrils deeply.

"Did something happen with Emily?" Her dad asked quietly, attempting to break the hug, squeezing her again when she refused to let him pull away.

"Why would you think that?" She asked softly, her eyes closing as she inhaled again.

"Your text, love. You said you were staying with Emily and going to college with her tomorrow morning. That you had to study and go over your applications together." He continued to rub her back as she frowned. She'd texted that? "It's why I'm so surprised to see you, love, I didn't know you were home."

Something wasn't right. Why would she text her dad about staying with Emily? Had she been that fucked up the night before that she didn't remember putting herself to bed, and texting her dad something completely ludicrous?

"I would've woken you up had I known you were home." He squeezed her one more time, pulling himself away from her. Her eyes opened as the smell lessened, and she was drawn to the pulse on his neck. Jesus, she thought, staring at the tiny beat that made his skin seem to throb.

How had she never noticed that before? That pulse point, that beating of the blood beneath the skin of his throat. How easy it would be to pierce through that flimsy barrier, how easy to force the blood to gush out and into her…

She physically fell backwards against the doorframe behind her, her hand over her mouth as her dad frowned at her again.

"Darling do you need me to take you to a doctor?" He reached toward her and she jerked away from him.

"No, I'm fine, I just need to have a shower or something." She mumbled turning away from him, the words sounding strangely muffled.

She ran up the stairs, her dad calling after her in concern even as she slammed her bedroom door shut and leant against it. She could still smell that fucking deliciousness, her stomach feeling like it was twisting inside her, her eyes slamming shut as she felt her mouth with trembling fingers.

She wanted to scream, or cry, or faint as the skin of her index finger slipped over her teeth. Her incisors weren't meant to be that long, that fucking pointed.

Jesus fucking Christ.

She had fangs.

V^^^^^V

She leant against her bedroom door, knees drawn to her chest and face in her hands.

It hadn't been a dream. Katie had attacked her the night before. Had attacked her and turned her. What the fuck, she thought, it didn't make sense.

She had cried, awfully, before wiping her eyes and seeing blood on them. Something had lurched in her stomach at that, and she'd swallowed the urge to cry as hard as she could because what the fucking Christ was going on.

Katie had turned her.

Katie had fucking turned her into a vampire.

Had she?

The last thing she remembered was Katie leaning over her, and her body in the most amount of pain she'd ever been in. She was sure she would die, hopeful she wouldn't, felt completely helpless and frightened. That fucking bitch, she thought. That fucking twat of a cunting bitch.

But had Katie turned her? She screwed her face up, desperate to remember. Had Emily found them, and saved her?

She hated that the thought didn't make her feel any better. Nor why, she thought suddenly, she had woken up in her pyjamas and in bed like nothing had happened.

Emily would've taken her back to the others, wouldn't she? Not left her in her bedroom with no clue, in proximity of her dad when she woke up fucking hungry or whatever she was.

Fucking hell, she thought miserably. Katie was the most evil thing in the entire fucking world and she'd never hated anyone so strongly.

She sucked in a shaky breath, and stopped herself as she felt suddenly hopeful that this was all wrong. She was breathing, wasn't she? Vampires didn't breath, didn't have a heartbeat…

She pressed her fingers to the side of her neck, whimpering softly when she felt nothing, pressing them to her wrist and swearing when she felt nothing again. It didn't mean anything, though.

She sucked in a breath and held it, seeing how long it would take before her aching lungs gave out and she'd have to breath normally.

Her eyes glanced around her room as she held her breath, looking at her bag in the corner, her coursework spread out on the floor. Looked at the clothes she had on the ground, and the rumpled blankets on her bed.

Her curtains were closed, and she frowned at them for a moment. Had she left her window open? Was that how Katie had gotten inside? She remembered being thrown out of it, remembered her stomach leaping into her throat as she plummeted toward the ground outside.

It didn't make sense for Katie to turn her, though. Katie hated her, wanted Emily to have nothing to do with her for whatever fucking reason. That she couldn't grasp either, why Katie was so adamant that her and Emily couldn't have their brief romance or whatever it was.

What the fuck was Katie's problem? She was a mortal, for Christ's sake. Or used to be, she thought miserably. She was going to go to uni, and grow up, and have a life and Emily was perpetually stuck at the latter stages of being a teen. Was immortal, would watch Naomi growing and know they couldn't stay together.

It was what had made her change her fucking mind in the first place, about being with Emily. It couldn't last, it wouldn't be forever, it was a brief reprieve from reality and tragically romantic and fuck she hated Katie for ruining everything.

What the fuck did she do now? Join the merry band of morally upright vampires on their quest to be normal?

She shook her head pitifully. What the hell would she tell her dad? Where could she go?

She groaned slightly as she realised ten minutes had passed and she hadn't had to take a breath.

Her stomach hurt her so badly and she couldn't begin to wrap her head around the idea that she would have to drink blood, human blood, or it wouldn't go away.

She stood suddenly because she was fucked if she was going to do what Katie probably wanted her to; kill her own father and drink his blood. She shook her head because seriously, what the fuck? This couldn't be real. She had to be dreaming. She moved toward her window, gripping her curtains in both hands.

She doubled over as her stomach spasmed and her fangs began to ache. She could still smell that delicious smell, that blood smell that had been emanating off her dad, and turned toward her door before she could stop herself. She had moved so fucking quickly that her hand was on her doorknob before she could blink.

She had to leave.

She touched her door softly, running her hand over it once and wanting to cry because she couldn't say goodbye. Couldn't see her dad without losing control. She heard footsteps on the stairs, and panicked at the thought of him coming to check up on her.

She turned back toward her window, raising an eyebrow before moving toward it as fast as she could.

Jesus, she thought, appearing next to it and feeling like she'd hardly moved.

She pulled her curtains open quickly, narrowing her eyes at the giant love heart drawn in lipstick on it, and the slightly smudged lip print in the middle.

Fucking cunt, she thought, opening her window as she heard her dad nearing the top of the stairs. She climbed onto the sill, perching and looking down at the ground below.

She quickly went over her mental list of reasons as to why she was definitely a vampire again, in case she was somehow missing something and was about to purposefully break both her ankles by leaping from her window like a lunatic.

No breathing? Check. Fangs? Check. Almost uncontrollable desire to kill her father and drink his blood? Double check.

She heard her dad approaching her door, her nostrils flaring as for a second she contemplated killing him for the hell of it.

She jumped instead, landing on the ground without injury, and taking a slight moment to wonder at that. If she wasn't so angry and confused, she would've thought that was completely awesome.

She straightened, glancing down after a moment and wincing at herself because, really. She was still in her pyjamas. Fuck's sake she thought, even as she heard her bedroom door open and her dad call softly into her now empty room.

With one last glance toward her bedroom window, she took off running.

V^^^^^V

She sat on her bench, beneath the big tree in the park she'd come to think of as her special place. She hadn't meant to run there, but had found it to be the only place she could think of, had slumped onto the park bench and again put her face in her hands.

She had no money, no phone, no shoes. Not that she needed the latter, but it was ridiculous that she literally had nowhere she could go.

She felt like she'd end up punching another vampire if she came across one, her insides bubbling with anger and hunger. And she was petrified about being around someone human.

She couldn't rationalise it, actually killing someone. Had started to wonder if she could just hold herself back until she could find an NBS bloodmobile and treat it as an all you can eat buffet.

She groaned, leaning over as another spasm hit her. Her fangs ached awfully. Something wafted by her, and her head shot up as she inhaled.

Someone was close by, somewhere in the park. She couldn't stop herself as she stood up and began to run towards them.

She stopped behind a tree, closing her eyes and inhaling. She felt herself grin, and it was awful. She peered around the tree, seeing a teenage boy walking with his dog a ways off, laughing as his dog wagged it's tail happily and jumped up at him.

"Get off!" The boy affectionately patted the dog's head, pushing the dog away after a moment.

She kept her eyes on the dog as it turned it's head in her direction and cocked it to the side. Some part of her was telling her to back off, to go back to the bench and chain herself to it if need be. She ignored it, her eyes narrowing as she crouched down and waited for the dog to come toward her.

The dog was growling in her direction, and she smirked at it. Come on you fucker, she thought, not wondering that hadn't she once been an animal activist?

"Come on, Jeremy. Fuck's sake, I want to go home. Shit and be done with it." The boy kept walking, absent-mindedly patting his leg. "Fucking hell." He muttered as Jeremy growled loudly and ran toward the tree she was hiding behind.

She grabbed Jeremy as he rounded the tree, picking him up and swiftly breaking his neck before he could let out a whimper or bark. Again there was part of her that questioned what the fuck she was doing. You just killed a dog, it yelled at her, leave before you do something worse! Jesus fucking Christ, and you'd better donate all of your savings to the RSPCA because that was despicably unforgivable!

Something else in her was snarling, though, and gleeful. It dropped the dog's body onto the ground and walked with her legs from behind the tree. She smiled at the boy, who had an exasperated look on his face, as he was strolling toward where his dog had disappeared.

She blinked, though her progress toward him didn't falter. She knew him.

"Hey Michael." She said it easily, keeping her lips close together to hide her fangs. There was barely any light where they stood, and he squinted at her before his face split into a grin.

"Naomi!" He put his hands in his pockets, as if suddenly shy. "What are you doing here so late?" He looked briefly at what she was wearing, tilting his head to the side.

She giggled flirtatiously. "My bloody dog needed a walk and I thought, fuck it I'll just go in my pyjamas." She batted her eyelashes at him. "I didn't expect to see anyone else here."

He looked at her bare feet for a second, smiling at her bashfully. "Me too! Jeremy, that's my dogs name, needs to shit at the most awful times. Our back yard isn't so big, either." He shrugged. "Luckily we live so close to the park though." He shuffled his feet nervously.

She walked slowly toward him, smirking as a breeze blew her t-shirt tightly against her chest, her tits outlined because of it. He stared at them, blushing furiously when he caught her eye. Well, maybe it was lucky she wasn't wearing a bra after all.

"I've seen you here before." He said softly, gazing at her as she reached a hand forward and lightly gripped his waist.

"Have you?" She murmured, feeling something inside her reach out toward him. "Would you agree that you and I would be perfect together?"

She watched his brow furrow for the tiniest of moments, before nodding his head. "Absolutely." His eyes flickered between her lips and eyes, and she grinned, revealing her fangs.

He stepped back from her, eyes widening.

"I'm so hungry, Michael." Her voice was soft, and she wondered what was causing her to toy with him. Couldn't she have just jumped on him by now? "You'll give your blood to me, won't you?"

He nodded at her slowly, and stepped back into her arms as she lifted her hands and tilted his neck to the side.

It registered, as she sunk her teeth into his neck, that she enjoyed that he'd come to her willingly. That he clutched at her shoulders as she fed from him, that using her words made the snarling part of her want to laugh and clap it's hands.

They sank down onto the ground, the taste of him better than she could ever have imagined. She felt her stomach stop twisting, her fangs digging deeper into his throat, the blood warm and gushing and wonderful.

She pulled back when his hands fell from her shoulders, and his head was lolling back. She heard his heart thumping sluggishly, and she watched as he died. She dropped his body, standing quickly and wondering what the hell had just happened.

She thought of the boy she'd seen dancing shyly across from her in the club, smiling and blushing at her nervously, and squeezed her eyes shut because his face was so still, and it was her fault.

"I'm sorry." She said even as she felt herself tearing up, crouching to pick up his feet and dragging his body toward the tree.

She ripped out clumps of grass, digging with her hands as fast as she could and not looking at him. She had completely lost control, had been taken over by something that frightened the living daylights out of her. She rolled her eyes at herself, because there was nothing 'living' left.

She had just killed someone. Not just someone, either, but a boy she knew. And his dog.

She didn't know how deep to dig, and kept at it until the opening was above her own head. She shook her head at how little time it had taken, how much effort she hadn't had to exert, how her energy felt fucking limitless.

She climbed out of the hole easily, pushing Michael and Jeremy into it, avoiding looking at them as Michael's body crumpled in the hole slightly too narrow for his height, Jeremy on his chest.

She wanted to say something, but didn't know what she could say.

She pushed the dirt over them, as fast as she could, stamping her feet on the earth when she was done. Well, it was a big fucking obvious patch of dirt but she figured no one would find it unless they were looking.

And she didn't care if they were looking. She just wanted to bury him, to hide him because leaving him lying out there in the open felt wrong to her somehow. Like he was exposed, like she owed it to him to protect him in some way.

Which was fucking ridiculous, she thought and sniffled. This whole fucking thing was ridiculous.

She looked at the patch of dirt one more time before resolving herself to get to the bottom of this whole thing.

She only barely remembered how to get to their house but it wasn't as if she would get tired, was it? It wasn't as if a bit of searching would hurt her.

After all, nothing could hurt her anymore.

V^^^^^V

Naomi paused on the winding driveway, her hands on her knees and bending forward as Michael's face flashed in front of her eyes.

She had killed him. She was a vampire and she had killed him.

She strode forward after a moment, determined. She thought of her dad, her sweet and kind father who would be heart broken because she'd disappeared and could never tell him why. She thought about Thomas standing at a bus stop and waiting to warn her; thought of Pandora gripping her wrist and telling her that the attention from Effy and that lot was a bad thing; thought of JJ smiling at her and blinking; finally thought of Emily leaning forward to kiss her, swearing she didn't want to turn her.

There were tears in her eyes, and she hated that she felt so emotionally fucked up.

Of course she was, though, she was a fucking vampire for Christ's sake. A few months ago she didn't even think they existed, and now she was one. How did that happen?

She angrily wiped the tears away, resolving to replace her feelings of self pity with anger. Because she did feel extremely sorry for herself, not to mention extremely stupid. Had Katie done this to teach her a lesson? That didn't make sense, and at the same time it made her feel angry all over again. She'd just wanted to spend time with Emily, had just wanted to… She shook her head. What had she wanted? Was it not enough that everyone around her had warned her about getting too close? Was it not enough that Emily had shown her memories of killing her own family, and somehow that had made her want to hug Emily and make everything better, instead of running away as she should have done? Her dad had been there the entire way, supporting her, being fucking amazing and she hated to think of what he was doing right now. Was he looking for her? Calling the police? Crying? Every thought was awful.

Why couldn't Emily have just left her alone? Why did she pursue her so relentlessly? And why, she clenched her fists at her side, why did she go for Emily so willingly?

The house came into view, lights shining from almost every window. She could see them walking around inside, could hear snippets of their voices. Her eyesight and hearing were amazing, but she was too angry to pay attention to it.

She felt her fangs extend as she reached her hands toward the front door. Felt them pulse with anger, instead of hunger.

She felt like she was storming a castle.

V^^^^^V

Cassie and Tony were waiting for her when she threw the doors open, both of them standing at the foot of the stairs and looking at her expectantly. Tony had his hands clasped in front of him, the slightest smile on his face, and Cassie blinked at her owlishly.

"You arrive at last." Tony looked at her calmly, and she wanted to tear his eyes out.

"You cunt!" She spat out, unsure of what else to say and halting as the door slammed shut behind her. Now she was actually in the house, and faced with them, she had no idea what her plan of attack was. But whatever, she needed someone to blame. She turned her gaze to Cassie, glaring at her.

"Oh, wow." Cassie said softly, her gaze sympathetic.

"You knew you loopy twat!" Naomi wanted to fly at her now, and tear Cassie's eyes out instead of Tony's. She wasn't sure why it was the eyes she wanted to go for, but something in the way they were looking at her angered her to no end.

"Course she did." Tony shrugged, as if he was almost amused by Naomi standing there in her pyjamas, furiously glancing between them.

"Whoa." Chris had paused on the staircase, looking at her with his eyes bugging out of his head. She watched as he looked her over, head to toe, before he grinned. "Em is going to be so happy! Well done you!" He winked at her, grinning widely, and she snarled before running and leaping at him.

Tony moved slightly to the side to let her through, and Cassie bit one of her nails, both of them turning to watch her tussle with Chris on the stairway.

She pushed him backwards and landed on top of him, gripping his shirt in her hands and pulling his face close to hers. He blinked at her in surprise before putting his hands on her waist and easily flipping her over, straddling her and grabbing her hands. He held them above her head, looking down at her confused.

"What did you do that for?"

"Arsehole! You fucking bastard!" She struggled beneath Chris as he turned his head toward Tony and Cassie.

"What am I missing?" He asked them, and Tony smirked.

"Tell him, Cass." Tony gestured toward them, and Naomi tried to pull her hands free in vain, rolling her eyes when Sid approached them slowly, frowning at her with his head tilted to the side.

"What's going on here then?" Sid stopped at the top of the stairs, raising his eyebrows as he looked between her and Chris, before Cassie stopped biting at one of her fingernails and stepped toward them.

"Katie turned Naomi." She closed her eyes for a moment, before smiling almost cruelly. "Didn't give her a choice." Naomi watched as Cassie glared at Sid for a moment. "The devil."

Sid rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm getting sick of this whole blame business. Oh Sid you're a twat for turning me against my will! Oh Sid you're a knobhead because you ruined all my plans." Sid put his hands on his hips, glaring back at Cassie as her face clouded over in anger.

"Naomi has a right to be angry!" Her voice shrilled, and Naomi struggled again under Chris, almost managing to get her wrists free.

"Not to interrupt or anything, but can we focus on the problem at hand for a moment?" He twisted his head to look at Cassie and Sid pointedly. "She's bloody strong, yeah?"

"You're all to blame for this! I didn't want this! Fucking let me go!" She yelled out, hating that there were tears developing in her eyes, and that Chris looked down at her with a concerned look on his face.

"Promise not to attack me again and you can go free." He murmured, raising his eyebrows at her like she was a four year old who'd pissed in the corner and couldn't be trusted not to do so again.

She struggled a final time, glancing at Sid, Cassie and Tony before rolling her eyes and nodding. Cassie and Sid were frowning slightly at each other, and Tony was shaking his head in amusement.

"And!" Chris narrowed his eyes, looking at her mouth. "Put those away." He nodded at her fangs, and she frowned.

"I don't know how, do I?" She grumbled, hating that Tony snorted and Chris laughed affectionately.

"You've got a lot to learn, babe. Just concentrate on retracting them, yeah? Think of, like, something that calms you." He looked thoughtful for a moment and she felt herself getting angry all over again.

"I don't think anything fucking calms me right now considering I'm a fucking vampire who just killed someone." She glared at him as he winced, and out of her periphery she saw Tony step toward her, his smile gone.

"Did you hide the body?" He asked, and she rolled her eyes.

Cassie hugged herself, and Sid sat down on the stairs near her and Chris, reaching out to touch her hand briefly.

"Yes." She finally answered, tight lipped, and thought of Michael again. Saw him walking willingly into her arms to die. She felt like sobbing, suddenly, and squeezed her eyes shut.

Chris gently let go of her wrists, lifting his leg and moving his body off hers. She kept her eyes shut as she began to cry, hating that she was doing so with an audience.

Someone lifted her into their arms, and held her as she cried. She was surprised to open her eyes and see it was Tony. She pushed him away.

"I need to find Katie." She mumbled, wiping her eyes and frowning at each of them as they looked at each other warily.

"She's gone." Sid shrugged, avoiding looking at her.

"My sister too." Tony added, watching as she sunk down onto a step feeling slightly defeated.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She hated that her voice broke slightly as she turned her gaze to Cassie, who had moved to sit between Sid's legs and was hugging one of them as she looked at Naomi sadly.

"She can't." Chris mumbled, frowning at the ceiling for a moment before looking at her. "She just can't."

Sid was stroking Cassie's hair, and they all turned as they heard a car pull up outside.

Michelle walked through the front door first, laughing at something Freddie was telling her, both of them stopping and looking toward her in shock.

"Shit." Freddie mumbled as Michelle walked toward Tony uncertainly.

"What's this?" She asked him, but he shook his head at her.

Cook strolled through the door then, nodding his head at everyone with a cocky grin before doing a double take when he saw Naomi sitting on the stairs.

He burst out laughing when he saw her, pointing at her and doubling over. Chris put a reassuring hand on her arm when she narrowed her eyes at Cook.

"Fuck I'm sorry, but the looks on all your faces!" He eagerly looked between the front door and Naomi, as if waiting. "This is going to be fucking magical!"

They were all looking between her and the door, seemingly making no attempt to hide it.

Naomi bit her lip, filled with nervous dread, waiting for Emily to see her. Did she know already? Or would she, as almost everyone else seemed to, be surprised?

The thought that Emily didn't know was both alluring and awful. She wanted to blame Emily for everything, and at the same time was desperate to know she wasn't part of it. Hadn't planned it.

Emily was swinging her car keys when she walked through the door.

"Hey arsehole, you left this." Emily threw what looked like a phone toward Cook, who caught it and grinned at her gleefully.

Emily frowned when she realised that everyone was looking at her, opened her mouth as if to speak, and then locked eyes with Naomi and froze.

Naomi gazed back at her, hating that she felt equally angry and vulnerable.

Naomi could see everyone looking between them, waiting for a reaction from either of them. Even Cook had stopped laughing, though couldn't seem to contain his glee, and was turning his head so fast Naomi thought his neck would've snapped if he'd still been mortal.

Emily took a step backward, shaking her head, looking at Cassie for a moment.

"Katie." Cassie whispered softly, Naomi feeling a spike of anger at the mention of that name.

Emily's eyes slipped shut for an instant, before she shook her head and spun around, running back out of the front door.

Naomi stood, Chris patting her leg encouragingly, before she followed.

V^^^^^V

Emily was standing at the edge of where the driveway met the lawn, staring toward Bristol, her arms wrapped around herself.

Naomi walked up behind her, ignoring that the driveway was scattered with rocks and bits of gravel, and that it didn't hurt her feet. She had so much to get used to.

She stood next to Emily, frowning at the city in front of them. She glanced briefly at the stars, thought of the artificial stars on her ceiling back home, and felt the unfairness of the whole situation hit her again. She would never see them again, would she? The actual stars a poor imitation suddenly, when it should've been the other way around.

"Katie." Emily murmured.

"Yes." Naomi replied tersely as a breeze blew against both of them. She could smell Emily, though it had changed with her new apparent vampiric senses. Like there was the slightest scent of decay underneath.

"When?" Emily's voice rasped, and Naomi saw her wipe her eyes quickly.

"Last night. Was hiding in my room." Naomi folded her arms over her chest, turning toward Emily.

Emily squinted at the distance, wouldn't turn to look at her as if she couldn't actually bring herself to do it.

"I didn't want this." Emily murmured, and Naomi snorted, feeling the anger welling up inside her again.

"And you think I did?" Naomi reached toward Emily, grabbing her shoulder hard and pushing, turning Emily to face her. "Fucking look at me!"

Emily shut her eyes before lifting her head and seeming to steel herself before she could open her eyes and look at Naomi.

Naomi let her hand fall to her side as Emily's eyes raked over her face. Taking stock, it seemed, particularly when Emily's eyes moved to look down at her feet and slowly back up again.

"I can't," Emily whispered, her voice just barely cracking through. "I can't hear your heart beat." She finally managed before putting her face in her hands and starting to cry.

Well, Naomi hadn't expected this. Righteous anger, maybe. Guilt, perhaps. But Emily was sobbing into her own hands, blood slipping through her fingers and falling to the ground between them. She hadn't expected Emily to be as miserable as she was.

She reached out after watching Emily cry for a few moments, pulling Emily into her shoulder and hugging her. It was fucking ridiculous because shouldn't she be the one being comforted? Everything was backwards, everything was wrong.

Emily clutched at her desperately, burying her face in her t-shirt.

"I'm so sorry." She mumbled, over and over.

Naomi frowned, wondering what the fuck Emily expected her to say in reply. She stayed silent, gritting her teeth and waiting until Emily had composed herself.

"Tell me everything." Emily frowned slightly at her, stepping out of the embrace and looking guiltily at the blood stains on Naomi's shoulder. Well, they could just match the other ones, couldn't they? Naomi looked down at her blood covered shirt, wondering which parts were her own tears, which belonged to Michael, thinking it painfully perfect that Emily's had now been added.

She narrowed her eyes at Emily, starting with Katie attacking her in her room and ending with Emily walking into her own house and finding Naomi on the stairs. She told Emily every detail she could remember, determined not to care when Emily flinched during the moments Katie was killing her and all Naomi could think of was Emily saving her. Stared back at Emily resolutely when she told her about wanting to kill her own father, about finding Michael and killing him and his dog.

She backtracked and told Emily about Cassie's vague warning the night before, felt a small measure of satisfaction when Emily narrowed her eyes toward the house in response.

"So now I'm homeless, a vampire, and I want to find Katie and hold her fucking head in a nice patch of sunshine until she's nothing but a gooey mess of burnt flesh, assuming that is what happens." Naomi had her arms crossed again, and waited as Emily seemed to digest everything that had happened.

"Michael just agreed with you?" Emily asked after a moment, and Naomi had a sudden urge to strangle her because of everything she'd just divulged and that was what Emily chose to address?

"He died willingly. Sort of." Naomi bit her lip, wincing when she bit through it and feeling her eyes widen as it healed the moment she lifted her teeth off it.

"Like Tony." Emily mumbled turning to look at the house, and Naomi frowned.

"Emily, stop being fucking vague. This is not the time."

Emily nodded at her, again looking apologetic. "Right, sorry. Tony can manipulate people into doing whatever he tells them to. It's how we got away with going to college even though we're, you know, old."

"So him and I can do the same thing, then?" Naomi shrugged her shoulders, wondering why that was so important.

Emily looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe. Did Michael just do what you wanted without comment, like he was mindless?"

Naomi didn't want to think about it, about Michael agreeing with what she had said and stepping toward her.

She closed her eyes briefly before nodding tersely, and then shaking her head.

"Sort of. He agreed with what I said to him."

"Not exactly the same then." Emily muttered, and Naomi felt an overwhelming urge to kick something.

Apparently being a vampire made her exceptionally violent.

"Come on, you need different clothes." Emily began walking toward the house, and Naomi grudgingly followed her.

They walked side by side around the side of the house to a back door Naomi hadn't seen before. Different clothes was a start, but then what was she going to do?

"I want to find Katie." She grumbled as Emily opened the door and stood back to let her through.

"Yeah well, so do I." Emily grumbled back and stepped into the house, closing the door and walking past Naomi. Naomi followed Emily, wondering that the last time they had seen each other they had been so happy. They had danced, and kissed, and Naomi had felt like anything was possible.

Now she was faced with eternity, with forever, with things she couldn't yet wrap her head around. This was the worst night of her life.

"You can have Effy's room, if you want time to yourself." Emily said softly, leading her up a back set of stairs to the top floor. "Her clothes too, since I don't think mine will fit you and Katie, well, I don't think you want anything associated with her."

Emily's voice was glum, and Naomi realised somewhat stupidly that Emily had put herself in that category as well. She tried as best she could to reassure Emily that she didn't blame her for this, for her sister, but she couldn't get the words out, not yet.

Emily led her past the door to her own room and to another, cracking it open and letting Naomi walk inside.

It was dark, and bare, and smelt different to Emily's. There was the slight odour of decay, and something else that wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"Thanks." Naomi muttered, turning to Emily and wanting to smile, but being entirely unable to.

"Find me when you want to, yeah?" Emily mumbled, and Naomi just nodded in reply, watching as Emily shut the door behind her.

She didn't need to, could see perfectly in the dark, but switched the light on because she wanted the comfort.

Effy's room was strangely bare. A comfortable chair facing the window, a pile of books next to it. An antique looking rug in the middle of the room, and a fireplace. There was a closet and artwork on the walls, though it was placed randomly and Naomi felt like it was a room of transition more than one specifically Effy's, as if Effy had known she wouldn't stay long.

Naomi opened the closet doors, raising her eyebrow at the assortment of torn jeans and ripped shirts. She rifled through them, rolling her eyes at how small the waistbands were on most of the pants, before finding a pair that would fit and changing out of her pyjama pants. She felt stupid as she held her pyjama pants to her chest for a moment, smelling the faintest whiff of her dad's laundry powder and her own room on them, feeling miserable as she did so.

She put them in the back of the closet instead, lifting her t-shirt over her head and doing the same before rifling around for a bra, rolling her eyes at herself when she realised Effy didn't wear them so of course there weren't any.

She pulled a long t-shirt out of the closet, shaking her head at the large wolf face print on the front, before slipping it over her head.

It would have to do for now.

V^^^^^V

She was sitting in the only chair in the room, staring out of the window at the lightening sky, the twinkling lights of Bristol long since turned off in the face of actual daylight.

The chair was comfortable and perfectly positioned, and she wondered how often Effy had sat in it watching the view. The chair was well worn, completely mismatched to the rug or the artwork on the walls, the crumpled books beside it on the floor yellowed with age. She had sifted through them half heartedly, not recognising the languages they were printed in, or frowning because the first few pages were missing from some, the covers torn or missing altogether.

She tried valiantly to fight it, though ended up stuck in the chair imagining everything she would be doing at this moment had Katie not interrupted and ended her life. Her knees were tucked into her chest, her head leaning against the high back rest of the chair.

She would be eating breakfast now, rolling her eyes as her dad doted on her and made a general idiot of himself in his over eager attempt to keep her happy. She felt herself smile as she thought of him, felt her chest ache along with it. His stew was probably delicious, she thought, and she'd never get a chance to taste it properly.

It was awful, too, to think that as an only child the family line was effectively halted at her. Unless her dad had more children, which she hoped for more than anything, she was it and she was dead. That wasn't fair. Fucked if she knew if she would've had children one day, but she was so sick of not having a choice in the matters of her life. Or death, really.

In the distance she saw a patch of sunlight peeking through a hole in the clouds, and squinted at it. It hurt her eyes to do so, but fuck it. Everything hurt inside, it was a nice distraction.

What would her dad tell her mum? 'I made Naomi that stew you used to love, but it made her sick and she ran away.' Is that what her dad thought? That she'd run away from home in some direct relation to his failed attempt at looking after her?

The questions burning inside her stomach were the worst part. She would never know the answers, would never know what was happening now, what would've been happening now if Katie hadn't taken it upon herself to intervene, if Emily hadn't tried so hard to make things work between them.

She'd be at college now, maybe, sitting next to Pandora and drowning out her excited babbling about television shows she'd never cared about. Maybe she should've, though. Maybe she should've watched people on television instead of having her own adventures with fucking vampires and sexual experimentation.

It made her sick with anger to think of Katie yelling at her that she didn't understand what she was getting herself into, didn't know what she was playing with. Because she was right, wasn't she? Naomi was fucking stupid all along. But, she argued pitifully with herself, she was a fucking teenager and meant to be stupid, and excitable, and not really have any idea of the consequences of her actions.

She sniffled, hating that she had cried so much, and that her tears were bloody, as if even in her misery she couldn't escape her new reality. Vampire. Blood sucker. Demon from hell.

But she didn't feel like she was evil, or a member of the undead. She just felt like a confused teenage girl who wanted her parents, and her own room, and not to be a danger to the people she loved the most.

V^^^^^V

There was a knock on Effy's door sometime in the afternoon, Naomi having to again change the shirt she was wearing because vampire tears left the kind of stain her mortal tears never had. She had found another long t-shirt, wincing at Effy's dress sense because it seemed a far cry from her own.

Effy's door opened, and Naomi was surprised to see Michelle stick her head through.

"Hey." Michelle said softly, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her. Michelle gazed at her sympathetically, and Naomi softly put her feet onto the carpet and attempted to look less miserable than she felt.

"Hi."

"Listen, I just wanted to say if you need to talk to someone you can talk to me, yeah?" Michelle walked toward the front of the room, perching against the windowsill.

Naomi blinked at her.

"You know, it's hard getting used to it, especially when your previous life is still so fresh. It took me a long time to understand what had happened to me, but I chose it. I know you didn't." Michelle crossed her arms over her chest, gazing out of the window before glancing at Naomi and smiling slightly.

"Why did you choose it?" Naomi asked, frowning, feeling her curiosity peeked despite herself.

"I loved Tony." Michelle shrugged, before smiling ruefully. "First love is very intense."

Naomi snorted, though her expression remained tight.

"Right." Naomi turned her face away as Michelle gazed at her.

"We can get you some clothes, better suited clothes. I don't think Effy will be back anytime soon, so you can consider this room yours." Michelle smiled at her. "If you like."

Naomi nodded, once, unable to feel anything other than discomfort at the gesture. The clothes she needed, the room though? She couldn't bare the thought of staying in Bristol. Couldn't bare the thought of anything, really, other than returning to the life she knew.

Michelle took her shopping in Bath, and the lack of familiarity was comforting. It was easy to pretend they were two teenage girls shopping for outfits they could wear comfortably to college, or to clubs. She liked Michelle, and hadn't expected to.

Michelle let her choose whatever she liked, and paid for everything. In a different life it would've been exhilarating, Michelle acting like a sugar daddy to her poor homeless teen on the streets act. But it was all overshadowed by remembering the clothes in her wardrobe at home, remembering shopping trips with her mum in London, remembering the reason why Michelle was doing this for her in the first place.

She fingered the material of a shirt briefly, smiling slightly as it reminded her of her favourite back in the closet at her dad's house. Her mum had made it for her during her vegetarian phase, a picture of a pig's face crudely printed on the front. She fucking loved that shirt.

She felt herself getting emotional again, and when Michelle gently led her out of the shop and back to the car without a word, she was more than grateful for it.

She stared glumly at the countryside as they drove back to Bristol, back to the house on the hill that, temporarily, she supposed she now called home.

V^^^^^V

"Coming out with us?" Chris poked his head inside Effy's room, or her room now she supposed, eyeing her warily. When she stood he raised his eyebrows at her. "Please don't attack me again, it's just a question!"

She rolled her eyes at him, feeling far more comfortable in clothes she had chosen, though still unable to do nothing but sit in the chair facing the window and brood.

She was going to refuse, but she felt the slightest twinge of hunger. Nothing compared to the day before, but she wondered if this meant she could feed without killing this time.

"Where are you going?"

He relaxed when he realised she wasn't as overcome with anger as she had been the previous night, and offered her a smile.

"Cheltenham, actually. You know, different city is a good idea particularly since you'll probably run into people you know otherwise."

"Who's going?" Her fingers played with the hem of her shirt, and he opened her door a little more and leant against the doorframe.

"Cass and Sid." He looked at the floor for a moment before continuing. "Emily."

She nodded her head. "Yeah, alright. Count me in."

He smiled at her happily before gesturing behind him. "Come on then."

She followed him to the car, relieved to see Emily in the driver's seat and Cassie already seated in the passenger side.

She squeezed in next to Chris, Emily giving her a startled look in the rear view mirror before starting the engine and turning the car toward the mouth of the driveway.

They drove mostly in silence, Naomi wondering that now she was on the other side of this, the club prospect was not at all as exciting as it once was. She stared out of her window wondering what poor sod was at this moment gearing up for a night out and completely unaware they were going to be fed off by a fucking vampire.

It was a Monday night, though. Surely they'd have to be more discreet.

She shook her head slightly when she saw the club they'd pulled up at and the multitudes of university aged kids standing outside waiting to be let in. Of course, she thought, of course they knew where to go on what night to get away with how they lived.

Emily took extra time locking the car as Chris, Sid and Cassie moved toward the entrance of the club, Chris handing her a few pills with a wink, which she pocketed. Emily glanced at her guiltily, warily.

"I can't stand this." Emily said to her after a moment, resting her hands on the roof of the car and looking at her miserably.

Naomi felt a hot spike of anger within her and narrowed her eyes at Emily.

"You can't stand this?" Her voice was low, almost trembling. "Fuck you Emily. Just, fuck you." She turned on her heel and strode toward the club, unsure of what she would do to Emily if she stayed behind.

A bouncer gave her a curious look as she skipped the queue entirely.

"You should just let me in." She said to him, feeling that part of her she'd first encountered with Michael reach out toward him.

"Yeah, I should." The bouncer nodded at her, smiling after a moment and moving out of her way.

Well, that was a bonus, she thought. No more I.D. checks or entry fees or anything she didn't want to deal with.

For a moment she felt like laughing, awfully, as she remembered Emily telling her that vampire abilities were designed to help them hunt and kill people. It was quite dangerous, hers, wasn't it? She smiled darkly, surveying the crowd of sweating blood bags on the dance floor. She could have any one of them.

She shook her head. Where the fuck had that come from?

A few boys were giving her looks, appreciative and shy, and she smiled back at them. She felt someone grab her hand and drag her toward the bathrooms, and pulled it back roughly when she saw it was Emily.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" She asked, voice low, knowing she didn't have to shout for Emily to hear her.

Emily narrowed her eyes, grabbing her arm again in an iron grip Naomi couldn't shake. She let herself be dragged into a stall, prepared for whatever pitying crap Emily was about to assault her with.

Instead, though, Emily leant against one of the walls lightly and just looked at her, licking her lips.

"Right. You need to know the rules." Emily sounded like it was difficult for her to speak, and Naomi felt angry again because this wasn't fucking about Emily. Or, it was all about Emily. She couldn't decide.

"Well?" Naomi folded her arms, waiting.

"Firstly, don't kill anyone. It amounts to a lot of shit to cover up and deal with, and completely defies the point of this whole thing."

Naomi shrugged petulantly. "Obviously."

Emily narrowed her eyes, then, and Naomi thought it almost hilarious that the last time they had shared a stall they had been fucking and this time they were glaring at each other as if they were enemies.

"Secondly, it's really fucking difficult to pull yourself back and not go all out. Regardless of your level of hunger."

Naomi rolled her eyes. "Worried I'll lose control?"

"Yes." Emily just looked at her. "Look, I know about all this, Naomi. Let me help you."

Naomi wanted to hit her. "I think you've done enough." She knew it was unfair even as she said it, looked away as Emily's eyes filled with guilt, again.

"Thirdly," Emily started quietly, her voice cracking. "Cover your tracks. Bite marks are hard to explain, and our blood heals." Emily shut her eyes for a moment, and Naomi had an awful urge to reach out for her.

But she couldn't. Emily should be the one reaching for her, comforting her, being fucking something resembling the sweet girl Naomi thought she was. She wanted to slap herself, though, because that line of thinking was what got her into this mess, wasn't it?

She pushed herself off the wall, opening the stall door and giving Emily one last look.

"Anything else?"

Emily looked at her sadly, and seemed to resign herself to something Naomi wasn't sure of.

"The pills take an hour. Don't bite until the smell changes."

Naomi nodded, once, dragging her eyes away from Emily's and leaving the bathroom entirely.

She played lightly with the pills in her pocket, trying not to feel anything for Emily because it would ruin her, at this point. She saw a dark skinned boy glancing at her appraisingly, and pushed her shoulders back. She walked toward him with a confident grin on her face.

It was hard, later, to pull herself away from him. Someone pulled her back instead, and she gave Chris a shaky smile in thanks when she saw it was him.

"Come on mate, you need a sit down." Chris said loudly to the boy, putting an arm around him and already biting one of his own fingers to cover Naomi's teeth marks.

The room spun slightly, the music thumped against her ears, and she was thankful for the effects of the pills that had pumped into her body from the boy's blood. She closed her eyes and tilted her face toward the ceiling, swaying in place.

Someone danced into her enthusiastically and she opened her eyes to see Chris, Sid and Cassie dancing around her, happily and without care. She frowned at them, even as the blood inside her sang along with the music.

She turned her head and met Emily's eyes across the dance floor. Emily had her mouth on the neck of a blonde girl, her eyes trained on Naomi even as Emily's hands moved over the girls back.

Naomi felt something awful welling up inside her. She remembered Emily's mouth on her neck, arms roving over her back, remembered loving every minute of it. She couldn't tear her eyes away from Emily and the bitch girl she was feeding off, had to fight the urge to pull them apart and rip the girl's head off.

Emily's eyes slipped shut momentarily, and in that moment Naomi turned around and moved quickly out of the club.

She strode across the parking lot, blinking back the white hot anger that was rushing beneath her skin and close to overwhelming her.

Emily was never hers. Emily was a fucking liar. Emily was the one to blame, not Katie. Katie was a cunt but if it hadn't been for Emily, Katie would've left her alone. And she'd be at home now, with her dad, and everything would be fucking perfect.

She kicked a car, startled when she dented the fuck out of it, before she looked at the destruction with a satisfaction she hadn't felt before.

"Naomi!" Emily was striding toward her. "What the fuck?"

Naomi heard herself growl, actually growl, as she turned to face Emily. "What the fuck do you think is wrong with me? In case you haven't noticed I'm a fucking vampire!"

"Yes, Naomi, and I understand that it's hard but you can't kick people's cars since it's a bit fucking obvious, isn't it?" Emily looked at her incredulously.

"Oh I'm fucking sorry if I'm blowing your cover but you can go fuck yourself with your rules, hypocrite." Naomi glared at Emily, watching as Emily's face darkened.

"How am I a hypocrite?"

"How are you a hypocrite?" Naomi stepped toward Emily. "You spout about not killing people and trying to be fucking human when you're a monster, and you ruined my life!"

Emily took a step backwards as if she'd been slapped. "I never wanted this."

"Stop fucking saying that! It's happened whether you wanted it or not." Naomi felt her voice catch, and shook her head angrily.

"What do you want me to do, Naomi? If I could change things I would, you have to know that."

Naomi lurched forward suddenly, slapping Emily hard across the face.

"Don't you dare try and absolve yourself of this." Naomi watched as Emily slowly turned back to face her, eyes narrowing as she touched her cheek.

Naomi saw the fist flying at her face a second before it hit and she fell backwards from the force, hitting the ground hard.

"I am well aware that I am to blame for this, Naomi. But there is nothing I can do except help you adjust." Emily stood over her, glaring as Naomi felt her lips and teeth healing themselves. Emily's fangs were out, and Naomi realised her own were too. "I know you're angry, and liable to lose control, and go ahead and blame me if you want. I fucking blame myself. But there is nothing I can do!"

Naomi shut her eyes. "I know." She sprang to her feet, pushing against Emily's shoulders. "You could try and comfort me!" Naomi felt ridiculous even as she said it, even as her voice broke and felt emotional all over again. Fucking drugs. "Instead of moping around and making me feel like even worse shit than I already do!"

Emily blinked at her, pushing back. "I'm sorry! I've never had to deal with this before, alright?"

Naomi snarled, and slapped her again, as hard as she could. "This is not about you!"

Emily's head reeled and she was forced to take a step backwards as Naomi's palm made contact with her face.

Emily whipped her head around and leapt at Naomi, landing on top of her as Naomi's back hit the ground again. Naomi struggled, but couldn't seem to get Emily off her.

"I'm sorry I fell in love with you!" Emily yelled into her face, bloody tears in her eyes.

Naomi stopped struggling, feeling herself frown as she looked back at Emily, above her.

"What?" She asked, her voice trembling, hating that some of the anger was dissipating.

Emily just looked at her sadly. "You heard me."

Naomi reached up suddenly and kissed Emily, hard, ignoring that their fangs were tearing their lips, forgetting the pain as each cut healed.

Naomi gripped Emily desperately even as she felt Emily sob into her mouth.

They kissed each other wretchedly, Naomi feeling each tear fall from Emily's eyes and onto her face. It was different, kissing Emily like this, as a vampire. Emily's lips were still as soft as ever, but there was a sense hopelessness inside her as Naomi flipped Emily over and reversed their positions.

Emily clung to her, and Naomi saw the anonymous blonde Emily had been feeding off again. She tore Emily's shirt open, roughly palming her tit as Emily moaned slightly against her mouth.

Was this how it would be now, between them? Watching Emily try and replace her every night they fed? Or, and she roughly nipped at Emily's lip at the thought, had she been a replacement for someone else the entire time?

She pulled back and stared down at Emily, whose eyes were shut and mouth was slightly open, her fingers kneading Naomi's shoulders roughly. She had a moment of curiosity before she moved her head forward suddenly and bit into Emily's neck, sinking her teeth in as far as she could go.

Emily moaned loudly, fingers threading through her hair and pulling her closer.

Naomi wondered at the taste of Emily's blood, sucking hard to draw it through the wound before it could close, no heart beat allowing a pulse to let it rush forth readily. It didn't satisfy her hunger, but it satisfied something else, something deeper.

Her fingers moved swiftly down Emily's body, ripping open her jeans and diving into her underwear without hesitation. Emily's back arched, her neck pushing against Naomi's fangs and reopening.

Naomi thrust her fingers inside Emily roughly, unmindful they were in a parking lot, barely hidden by the parked cars around them.

Naomi pulled her fingers out of Emily and rubbed her clit with hard, fast movements. She sucked at Emily's neck as Emily rocked her hips against her hand. Emily was so wet, it wasn't going to take much, and Naomi wondered for a moment at the state of her own underwear, and how turned on she'd become when Emily had punched her.

"Say it." Naomi ground out against Emily's neck. "Say it."

"I love you." Emily moaned, but Naomi shook her head.

"Say it." She demanded again, and after a moment Emily did.

"I'm sorry."

Emily's body went rigid, and Naomi pulled back from her neck to watch her face as she orgasmed. It was terrible, and beautiful. Emily's fangs extended, her eyes squeezed shut, out of control.

Despite herself she thought back to something Katie had once said, about an out of control Emily being a wonderful thing.

Naomi's hand stilled as Emily rode the orgasm out, opening her eyes and blinking up at her. Naomi pulled her hand out of Emily's underwear, and they stared at each other.

Naomi wondered, if it hadn't already died, whether her heart would've broken right then and there.

Emily looked away first, and Naomi rolled away from her, sitting and standing quickly, wiping her fingers on her pants. Emily gripped the waistband of her jeans, and attempted to hold her shirt closed.

They drove back to Bristol in silence, neither caring that Sid, Chris and Cassie would have to find their own way back.

V^^^^^V

Naomi wasn't sure if she should pack a bag or not, looking at the assorted clothes Michelle had bought her and thinking fuck it, she liked them and why not take something.

Emily knocked on her door just as she zipped up a bag she'd found in a hallway cupboard, and Naomi straightened her shoulders before calling out that she could come in.

"I thought you'd be leaving." Emily said softly as she looked at the bag, and determined look on Naomi's face.

"Well, I don't think it's for the best if I stay." Naomi shrugged, lifting the bag and turning to look at Emily.

"Where are you going?" Emily folded her arms, and Naomi frowned.

"I honestly don't know. But away from Bristol."

"Away from me?"

Naomi stopped frowning, and shook her head. "No, Emily. Just away from the life I can't have anymore." Naomi walked towards Emily slowly, reaching out with her free hand to lightly touch Emily's face. "I need to find Katie."

Emily nodded after a moment. "I want to come with you, then."

Naomi raised an eyebrow, slightly relieved. She was fine to do it by herself, but the thought of company was a better one.

They stared at each other for a moment, and Naomi felt the distance between them, her desire to find Katie and bash her face in growing even stronger at the look on Emily's face.

They took one of the cars, and were gone before anyone had gotten back to the house and could try to convince them otherwise. Not that they might've, Naomi thought, struggling to determine whether vengeance or a basic need for understanding was driving her the strongest. She would have to decide before finding Katie whether she would ask questions and then attack, or fuck the questions and just attempt to tear her face off. She owed her one, that was for sure.

Emily gunned the engine beside her, and Naomi stared out of the passenger window at the light breaking over the hills.

She thought of Thomas, JJ and Pandora fearing the worst for her. She wondered if they thought she had turned, or had been killed, and whether they had linked the disappearance of Michael to it at all. She thought of Michael's family, and felt awful for them. She thought of her own family, of her dad's effort to love her, and her own refusal to tell the same to her mum. There was so much she hadn't done, hadn't thought to do when she had the chance.

She saw the strange group watching her at college, and JJ smiling at her as seaweed biscuit crumbs fell on his jumper. Saw Thomas handing Pandora a doughnut, and the way they smiled at each other with such love in their eyes.

She thought of Emily reciting her favourite poem while they lay on the floor of her room, and how they had laughed together before everything had blown wide open.

She saw her and Emily sunbathing on a yacht, and holding hands in a dark cinema as a life they could never lead played out on the screen before them. She reached over, then, and squeezed Emily's hand in the car, Emily squeezing back though they didn't look at each other.

Emily took her hand away to rummage in the space behind the passenger seat before pulling out a pair of sunglasses, and handing them to Naomi with a quick smile. Emily pulled another pair out of the glove box in front of Naomi and slipped them on over her own eyes. She rested her hand back on Naomi's, and kept it there.

Naomi thought, finally, of Katie. She understood now, on some level, being unable to control the violence that seemed to be bubbling just beneath her skin. Understood somewhere too the sheer fucking effort it would take not to give in to the anger, and jealousy, and thought of punching Emily the night before. It repulsed her and turned her on all at once, and she tried not to think about it.

She didn't know where they would start looking, but Emily seemed to have an idea of where her sister might've gone, and until they found her Emily had promised they wouldn't give up. Emily seemed to want to punch her sister as much as she did, and it calmed her somewhat to have someone onside. It was something, at least, to preoccupy herself with now she was facing the daunting prospect of forever.

Until they found Katie, though, Naomi promised herself that she wouldn't give into the monster again, that she would attempt some semblance of control, and she knew Emily would try to help her. Tony's idea of normal living was nice, but it was wrong for her. Not yet, not so soon. Not without being able to control her emotional responses, or herself. She couldn't exist in a happy faux family that were treading on eggshells around her because, really.

It was all wrong.

She looked into the sky and saw the clouds darkening overhead. She wanted to snort because she'd always enjoyed the sunlight, had hated days like this one was turning out to be. And yet it was preferable than burning to death, or something like it, obviously. Christ.

Tony was mad to want to exist in daylight. She shook her head. On the other hand, it was better than Katie's darkness, wasn't it?

She turned her head toward Emily, squeezing her hand one more time.

They would have to find a way to exist, somehow, between.


	10. Katie

She loved the taste of blood.

Katie smirked, scanning the crowd of sweating teenagers around her. Come on, she thought, tilting her head and listening. The music was too loud to pick much out, and most of the thoughts around her were scattered. The usual shit, really. She narrowed her eyes because fuck she hated people. A tosser on her left was staring into her cleavage and wondering what it would feel like to titty fuck her, and she barely managed to keep her fingernails from clawing his eyes out. Once, she would've attached herself to him, easy pickings really. He'd count himself lucky that she noticed his existence, and she'd have no qualms ending his useless life.

But that was the fucking problem, wasn't it? She couldn't kill anymore. Had committed to being a goody fucking two shoes so her twat of a sister could deal with killer's remorse. She snorted, moving away from the tosser eyeing her tits, moving deeper onto the dance floor. She'd never had killer's remorse. Ever.

How could she when she could hear everything their pathetic little brains thought, if she wanted to? When she could get the truth of someone without even knowing them, could hear their basest desires, could listen to the darkest parts of them that sometimes even they couldn't hear.

She felt her lip curling with contempt as a fuckwit behind her pressed his hips against her arse, and she felt his erection press into her. She would've torn it off in the old days. She smirked. The good old days. Fuck she missed them.

None of this blending in shit. None of this going to college and learning about the modern fucking world shit. None of this desire to fuck a human beyond feeding off them.

She hated Naomi.

She saw them, making out in the middle of the dance floor, so close to each other she wondered how Emily could stand it. Could hold herself back from ripping Naomi's head off and catching the resulting fountain of blood in her mouth like it was rain. Katie shivered. She missed killing.

Fuck anyone who thought she was a monster because of it. What did they know? JJ could fuck himself with his judgement. Fucking loser.

She stopped moving, glaring toward her sister and the uppity cow she couldn't keep her lips or hands off. She shut her eyes suddenly as she saw where her sister had taken Naomi to. Saw the fantasy of her sister's hand between Naomi's legs in the college toilets. Katie's eyes flew open, and she barely managed to stop from snarling because her sister was fucking stupid.

She moved away from them, had to or she couldn't avoid listening in on Naomi, nor the mounting urge to actually kill her. It would solve all her fucking problems, wouldn't it? Emily would be so devastated she'd swear off mortals forever, and they could go back to having some fucking fun instead of this pseudo normal teenager lifestyle they were poorly imitating.

She weaved her way through bodies, ignoring anyone who looked at her, struggling to block out what they wanted to stick in various parts of her. She wanted to kill them all, resented that she wouldn't. Resented that Emily had that much sway over her choices, and that she loved her sister enough to go through with them.

She stopped, seeing Effy with her arms wrapped around a tall boy, her mouth on his neck. They were in a dark corner, and his eyes were rolling in the back of his head, his arms hanging limply by his sides. Effy pulled away from him, slowly, and Katie watched her quickly bite her thumb open, smearing the blood on his neck and healing the bite marks. Effy turned away from him as he slumped against the wall, sliding down it.

Katie smirked as Effy licked her lips, spotting her and smirking back.

If Tony wasn't Effy's brother, and if she didn't love him as much as she loved Emily, Katie might've considered fucking the whole thing off and taking Effy with her. Effy missed the killing as much as she did, she was sure of it. They'd loved it together, after all. She felt her fangs extend the slightest bit as she remembered the look on Effy's face, right as the heart of whoever was between them stopped, right as the body jerked and stilled, and the blood was still surging into her mouth, into Effy's mouth, and Effy would gaze at her. Then, always then, Effy would pull her head roughly to her own, would press open mouthed kisses against her lips, sharing the blood back and forth between them.

She felt her fangs get a little longer. Fuck, she needed to feed and soon or the pain would start. Effy walked slowly toward her, eyes rolling back in her head and arms raised above her, swaying with the music. Katie stood still, her eyes narrowed in hunger, and lust, and waited until Effy was close enough before she started to sway in time, turning in place. Effy wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"Taking your time." She laughed darkly into Katie's ear.

"I don't think I'll be able to stop from killing tonight, babes." Katie murmured thickly, turning her head toward Effy, smelling the blood on her breath. Her fangs fully extended, and she shuddered.

A boy was watching them, sweating, smiling. She kept her mouth closed, listening to his thoughts. He was scattered as hell, entranced by her and Effy together, imagining himself in the middle and fucking them both to ridiculous heights of pleasure that she knew he could never deliver on. She smirked, extending her hand and beckoning toward him. Fuck it, she was hungry.

Effy moved her hands down over her hips, chuckling against her hair. "Careful, Tiger." She licked the outside of Katie's ear gently, and smiled at the boy.

He danced eagerly in front of them, and Effy laughed loudly when Katie roughly grabbed his hips and pulled him into the front of her. She watched the boy staring down into Katie's cleavage, couldn't blame him for liking the view. Katie was sandwiched between them, and Effy stared into the boy's eyes when his head was tilted up and Katie latched onto his neck without so much as a pause.

Katie felt the boy's neck open and liquid life pour into her mouth. She groaned, feeling Effy's grip tighten on her hips. Effy hadn't done this in a long time, been so close to her, partaken in a human with her. Not that she was feeding with Katie, but she was here, pressing into her back, placing soft kisses on her shoulder.

Katie drank, and drank. She could feel the boy weakening, could feel his mind scattering further, felt the point of no return fast approaching. Part of her didn't want to stop, didn't care if he died right there. She felt Effy leaning into her, gently pulling Katie's hair back and leaning in to press her lips against her ear.

"Stop." Effy commanded gently, and Katie rolled her eyes and pushed the boy off her.

He stumbled backwards, into other dancers, their hands on him all that kept him upright. Katie heard their annoyed thoughts, their judgements against him knowing his limits, and laughed.

"Fuck that's better." Her fangs had retracted, and she felt full. Something else, something in the blood, made the lights around her brighter, an elation settling in her stomach.

"Katie." Effy's voice was low, and Katie frowned because who the fuck cared if she left bite marks. She turned, raising an eyebrow in challenge to Effy, who gazed back at her with a small smile on her face. Effy reached a hand up to Katie's face, wiping a drop of blood from the corner of Katie's mouth with her thumb and drawing it into her own mouth, sucking it slowly.

Katie licked her bottom lip, feeling ridiculous and fucking good. Fuck Naomi. Fuck her stupid sister for getting carried away with the dumb twat, too. Effy shook her head at her, sliding past her to find the boy, biting her thumb on the way. Katie wanted to laugh.

Fuck Naomi. Fuck her sister. Effy was still on her side, at least.

V^^^^^V

"How did you know she was it for you?"

Katie frowned, recognising her sister's voice, stopping and waiting.

"Oh, well, I just felt it. Yeah, felt it. Knew I wanted her and that was it."

Why the fuck was Emily talking about this to Sid?

"Did you tell her before or after you turned her?"

Katie cocked her head to the side, unseen by her sister or Sid around the corner from where they were. She was meant to be waiting outside for Effy to pull up, but she waited, hoping she wasn't right in knowing where this was going.

"Er, well, not really. But I was younger then, and lacked self confidence. Besides, she was half dead anyway. Thought I was doing her a favour."

Katie rolled her eyes. Sid and Cassie belonged together, for fuck's sake. Did her stupid twat sister honestly think Naomi was anything more than a quick snack?

"Oh. And was she angry when she found out? After you turned her?"

Katie's eyes narrowed. What the fuck was her sister planning?

"Monumentally. Didn't talk to me for twenty years nearly."

Sid laughed, and Katie heard him walking toward her.

"Oh."

Her sister sounded disappointed, and Katie felt her hands balling into fists. She stalked around the corner, seeing her sister sitting sullenly on the lounge and Sid smiling at her as he passed.

"What the fuck, Ems?" Katie watched as Emily looked up at her, shrugging.

"What the fuck what, Katie?" Emily asked, sounding strangely resigned.

"Why were you talking to Sid just now?" She heard a car pulling up outside, and decided they could fucking wait for her.

Emily just shrugged. "Because I don't know what to do."

Katie felt some of her anger dip slightly. She hated seeing Emily weak. Had always hated it. Had turned her in the first place to avoid it.

"About that sad bitch Naomi? Who the fuck cares, Ems. Stop inviting her out, for one. Come back to college, for two. I can't believe you're ditching just because you want to avoid her. Fuck's sake, she'll be dead before you know it. Just kill her and get it over with." Katie moved to sit beside her sister, touching her back with what she thought was a reassuring hand.

Emily looked at her, frowning, leaning away. "I don't want to kill her. Fuck, Katie. It's what I'm the most fucking afraid of, alright?" Emily stood, shaking her head, storming out of the room.

Katie threw her hands up.

"I couldn't convince her either, princess." Cook was leaning against the door frame, and when she looked at him he nodded toward the window. "Come on, Ef's waiting for us."

She stood, smoothing out her skirt. She'd never seen her sister like this, and it shat her up the wall. She wanted to wrap her hands around Naomi's throat, and squeeze until her pious holier than thou internal monologue was shut up forever.

V^^^^^V

She heard Thomas thinking it. It was loud, determined. JJ thought it too, but quieter, more contemplative. Still determined though, and she paused when she realised they were planning it for the night ahead.

She grabbed Emily's hand, pulling her back as they walked out of the college, Effy leading Naomi on ahead of them toward the car park.

"What?" Emily turned to her, frowning, and Katie opened her mouth.

"Tonight," She started, then stopped when Naomi turned around to briefly smile at Emily, and she watched her sister's face soften. She gave Naomi one of the most sickening smiles she'd ever seen in her life, and something inside Katie snarled. "I'm going with Michelle and Tony, yeah?" She said, watching as her sister shrugged.

She would've felt bad about it, about knowing about it beforehand, particularly if she'd known how upset her sister would become. But instead she felt excited. This farce that Naomi was in with them would be ended. Naomi would be horrified, and if she was too much trouble, they'd have to kill her. She wanted to smile, because fuck she hoped Naomi would threaten broadcasting their secret to the world. Maybe she'd get to be the one to get rid of her.

Besides, she thought as Naomi got into the back seat of the car, smiling and talking to Emily, giggling when Emily made jokes that weren't even funny, besides. She'd always love her sister more than Naomi ever could.

V^^^^^V


	11. Effy

Effy remembered the moment she began to idolise her brother.

She was eight years old, and he was visiting home with his soldier buddies to say goodbye before being sent to Kabul. Her parents were so proud, and she sat in the corner for most of the evening, playing with the hem of her dress while her brother proudly displayed his uniform to their guests.

Her mother was drinking sherry as if it were water, her father yelling boisterously to Tony and his friends about honour and patriotism. She'd watched as Tony had excused himself, slipping out the back door, and she followed him quickly.

He was striding through their yard when she opened the door, disappearing into the thicket of trees near their shed, and striking a match as he walked. She remembered closing the door behind her, and delicately stepping toward the thicket, holding her skirt in front of her so as not to tread on it. As she neared the shed, a sudden arm reached out and wrapped around her, picking her up as she screamed.

She stopped when she heard Tony's voice laughing in her ear.

"Effy! It is your brother!" He continued to laugh as she swatted at the arm around her waist, smoothing her skirt when he put her down. She poked him suddenly, and grinned.

"You frightened me!" She giggled after a moment, and watched as he took a drag on a cigarette, exhaling into the night air and smirking at her.

"Look at you." He looked her up and down for a moment. "You will no doubt break the hearts of a thousand men some day."

She blushed, looking up at him, wondering how lucky she was to have such a tall, strong and handsome brother. She thought of the war he was going to fight, felt a sudden dread in her stomach.

"Must you go?" She asked as he inhaled deeply, shutting his eyes for a moment. He began to exhale, and then opened his eyes and crouched near her.

"Yes." He held the cigarette to her lips, his eyes twinkling in the starlight when she inhaled and started to cough.

"I promise to return to you." He touched her cheek with the hand not holding the cigarette, throwing the butt on the ground and turning as he exhaled the final breath of smoke. He continued to crouch, and Effy threw herself on his back.

He carried her toward the house, running to this side and that, pretending to drop her as she squealed.

She remembered going to sleep that night, and praying to a God she had once believed in to protect her brother at all costs, return him safely home to her, and keep him from harm.

It was eighteen months until her family had received word that he had disappeared and was presumed dead. Eight more years after that until she had seen him again, and he had taken her down to the thicket and killed her.

V^^^^^V

It was a cute little general store, 'Fitch & Fitch' painted on the awning, faded and stained.

She noticed Emily first, but would never tell Katie that. Had noticed her because she had known, were she to approach Emily, that Emily would have willingly gone with her somewhere if she'd asked. Had known that Katie would at least have asked Emily along with them if she asked her instead. She'd made sure to remember that about Katie, that she saw her and Emily as a package deal.

She hadn't seen Tony in years at that point, had left him and the rest of them seeking change. The problem with eternity, she thought, and knowing what your food will do, was that it was awfully boring after a while.

Emily had smiled at her, sold her cigarettes and hitched in a slight breath when Effy purposefully dragged her fingers over Emily's as the change was transferred. She'd watched the shop girl blush, and thought about the last time she'd eaten, before another girl had dropped a bag of potatoes and said the word 'Fuck' so loudly that Effy had laughed in surprise.

"Katie! Language!" Emily frowned toward Katie, feeling awfully ashamed that her sister had said such a horrible thing in front of the pretty young girl in front of her.

"Sorry!" Katie called back, kicking at a potato and glaring at the rest of them on the floor.

Effy had smoked until one of them had come outside, enjoying the feel of using her lungs. It was Katie who had come out with an empty basket, not seeing Effy until Effy was walking beside her.

"Hi." Effy said, throwing the cigarette on the ground and giving Katie a sideways smile. Katie barely screamed when Effy grabbed her and dragged her quickly behind the store, sinking her teeth into the young girl's exquisitely pale throat before her eyes slipped closed and she moaned.

"Fuck." The girl groaned out, clutching at Effy's shoulders, her chest heaving. Her eyes were rolling in the back of her head, and Effy was startled to realise the girl was enjoying it. She dropped her, frowning slightly as Katie fell to the ground in a heap, her head knocking against a large cobblestone and a pool of blood beginning to form on the ground.

Effy cocked her head to the side, examining the girl at her feet. She was pretty, and young, and she knew that if they had known each other when she was alive, were that possible, they would've been close. Quite close. She shrugged after a moment, if she turned this one, this one would turn the other one. It was like two new companions for the price of one. She grinned, leaning down quickly and drinking from Katie again until she was almost full to bursting. She bit her own wrist, holding it over Katie's mouth until Katie's eyes shot open and she latched onto it, panting. Effy weakly smoothed Katie's fringe away, reaching her arm around to hold Katie as she felt the girl's lips stilling at her wrist.

She held Katie as she died.

V^^^^^V

"What did you think of Naomi?" Emily asked her, sitting on the opposite side of the bay window as they watched the dawn breaking.

Effy looked at Emily without blinking. "She could love you." She said it softly, noticing the way Emily glanced at her and licked her lips.

"I can't stop thinking about her." Emily frowned to herself, playing with the edge of one of the drapes. "Have you ever had that?"

"No." Effy replied simply, thinking of Cook and Katie and turning her head to stare at the sky.

A few weeks later, Katie stormed into her room, throwing her hands up.

"Fuck this, alright? I'm not having fun anymore." Katie put her hands on her hips, glaring at her until she smirked.

"Trouble?" Effy asked, putting the book she was reading down and raising an eyebrow at Katie.

"Aren't you sick of it?" Katie frowned at her, and Effy pursed her lips.

"It isn't forever." She stood up, walking toward Katie and smiling. "Want to get fucked up?" She asked, and Katie struggled with a smile for a moment before rolling her eyes.

"More than anything."

They went out, just the two of them, not telling the rest of them where they were going. Katie frowned at one of the empty car spots as they left, Emily having driven off most nights now to go, they assumed, to Naomi.

Effy found the boy, nineteen and tripping off his face in a park. Watched as his friends left him behind laughing and shaking their heads. She knew they weren't planning on coming back for him, would leave him as a lesson not to get so fucked up. Katie was almost trembling next to her, fangs already extended.

"They're not coming back." Katie's voice was gleeful, and Effy crouched down, running her hands over the grass.

"After you." Effy turned her face up to Katie, watching as Katie sprinted forward and grabbed the boy, and he dazedly touched Katie's face and laughed. She dragged him back to where Effy was waiting in the darkness, and they were on him before he could blink.

They buried him beneath a bush, and as she brushed the dirt from her tights Katie grabbed her by the collar and crushed their mouths together.

She hadn't killed in such a long time, she'd forgotten how exquisite the feeling was, particularly when shared with someone who had enjoyed it just as much.

"You missed it." Katie smirked at her, keeping their faces close, and Effy nodded slowly. There were tiny lights dancing in Katie's eyes, and Effy grinned as she felt the drugged blood open her mind.

"Emily doesn't." She said after a moment, knowing Emily well enough that even though she was a vampire she could still read her.

Katie pushed her away. "Fuck off." She muttered, and began to move back toward the car, teetering slightly as if unbalanced.

Effy sat in the driver's seat as Katie stared out of the window silently.

"We could go away." Effy started the engine, gazing back at Katie steadily when Katie looked at her.

"You wouldn't miss Tony?" Katie asked, frowning at her.

Effy shrugged. "It isn't forever."

"Maybe." Katie turned her face away, and Effy didn't bring it up again.

V^^^^^V

She sat in the garden, gazing up at the moon, slightly buzzed from the drugs in the blood of the girl she'd fed off that night at the club. Katie and Emily were fighting upstairs, she could hear them, and she rolled her eyes slightly. Sid, Chris, Cook, Freddie and Michelle were still out, and Cassie had declared that she needed escape and had shut herself in her room. She wasn't surprised when Tony ambled over to her, stretching his legs out on the garden chair next to hers.

"It's all falling apart, Ef." He said, putting his hands behind his head and looking at the sky.

"It's inevitable." She answered, turning to stare at his profile, remembering the last time she had seen him alive.

"Where will you go?" He asked, his voice soft, and he gave her a look she still had trouble getting used to seeing on his face.

She remembered when he turned her, when he took her away with him, from an arranged marriage and a simple life. He had been in love with death, then. Had been invincible, had taken her to places she'd only dreamt of in her small village, where she'd spent most of her time imagining a brotherless life.

She had been the one to find him, seven years ago, lying on the doorstep to their cottage in Spain, scratching feebly at the door. She had opened her own veins to help heal him, had watched the burnt patches of his skull slowly close over.

He didn't remember what had happened, and Cassie had squeezed her eyes shut and blocked her ears when she'd screamed at her for not warning them. Tony only remembered being stuck as the sun had risen, unable to find shelter or shadow, and screaming as his skull had been burnt open.

He had healed, though it had taken weeks and countless litres of blood.

She had almost felt like crying when he'd opened his eyes, finally, and she didn't have to wonder at a forever without him anymore.

But he had changed.

She had taken him out for a celebratory kill, and he had been unable to do it, had wept over the unconscious body of the farm boy at his feet, and Effy had half carried him back to the cottage, unsure what to do.

He had held her, trembling. "It's not right." He kept saying, over and over. "Death isn't right." She couldn't get more out of him than that, had taken off that very night and when she found Michelle after a few weeks, she had told her to go to him.

When she'd found him again three years ago, he was halfway through executing his new way of being, had convinced Sid and Michelle, Cassie and Chris to try it with him. Chris had surprised her in particular being that this new half life seemed to be the antithesis of his idea of fun. But they did it, they got through, and they didn't kill a single person.

Emily had been the first to jump on board, hadn't been the same since she'd tracked down the family painting of the Fitches. Emily would just stare at it, some days, and Katie never looked at it at all. Had finally told Emily to put it somewhere she couldn't see the fucking thing, and Effy wondered, at times, whether Emily hated her for turning Katie, and sucking them both in.

"Somewhere." She answered, standing in one fluid motion and cocking her head to the side. "I'll say goodbye this time." She watched as he looked at her for a moment, smiling wryly.

They both knew that was a lie.

V^^^^^V


	12. Chris

He'd thought she was a dream when she walked toward him, hair cascading over her shoulders, a loose white dress hanging off her body. She had her head cocked to the side, giving him the smallest of smiles as she knelt next to him. The room was dim and heavy with smoke. His eyes were barely open, and he smiled up at her lopsidedly.

"Christopher." She'd said, and then giggled as if in delight.

"Angel." He'd replied, sucking on the long pipe he held weakly. She reached out a cool hand, lightly dragging it along his cheek.

"I have come to make you happy." She'd said, moving to lay her body along side him and pressing her head to his shoulder.

"Lovely." He'd replied, a dazed smile on his face he couldn't stop though a feeble part of him tried not to look so out of it.

"You're sure?" She asked, and he didn't know what she meant, felt his eyes flutter closed as her lips had moved to his neck. It was lovely really, even if it wasn't real. He'd have to warn her that he was dying, that he was infectious. But not now, he'd thought with a grin. For now he wanted to enjoy the attention before it turned to repulsion.

"Why me?" He felt the words leave his lips in a whisper as he felt the skin on his neck open. He wasn't sure what answer he was expecting, wasn't sure whether he was asking about her, or death, and whether they were separate entities anyway.

She pulled back, and he didn't flinch when he saw the blood on her lips or fangs in her mouth.

"You remind me of someone." She said it softly, seriously, before giggling again. "Oh, wow, I like you." She smoothed his hair back from his sweaty forehead, and in the dim light he saw faint exhalations of smoke coming from the sedated bodies around him.

"Thank you." He murmured to her, feeling tears prick his eyes even as he continued to grin.

"It will hurt for a moment," She kissed his cheek, and he felt a wetness left by her lips, as if her kiss remained on his face. "And then never again." She moved quickly back to his neck, reaching down to grip his hand as he began to shudder.

He would remember that promise much later, in more pain than he'd thought possible, wondering what Cassie had meant. Had she not seen what would happen yet, at that point, and so able to promise a carefree forever?

Or had she said it for his benefit? To tide him over, until he learnt first hand how much eternity hurt alone.

V^^^^^V

He loved his ability. It wasn't going to drive him mad, like Cassie, or tap into the darkest part of him, like Tony. In fact, he thought, weaving through a crowd of people laughing and doing the Charleston, he was like a modern day Bacchus, wasn't he? Like a Jesus figure, without the miracles and holiness.

He sniffed the air smiling pleasantly, finding the corner of the house where marijuana and opium were being passed around, and girls giggled on gentlemen's laps even though it was indecent to do so. He focused toward them for a moment, encouragingly, and felt a deep seated satisfaction when they all squealed laughing for no real reason. He was made to give them a good time, regardless of what they were doing, and he loved it.

Cassie was swaying on the other side of the room, clapping her hands and laughing delightedly. He felt his grin stretch wider when he saw her. He loved her, he really loved her. He still didn't know why she'd chosen him, to save him and gift him. He didn't question it, either.

He watched as Sid neared Cassie, sweeping her into the air as she laughed. It warmed him to see them happy, finally, after all the shit and fighting. Sid nodded at him, and he watched as Sid and Cassie leapt onto the nearest people and bit them. He laughed, spreading his joy further throughout the room. It was something special to be able to make these people think they were enjoying themselves even as they witnessed their friends being attacked.

The music got louder, the band in the corner getting a burst of energy, and a young couple bumped into him, the girl winking and grabbing his jacket, and the boy wrapping his arm around him.

Later, when they'd disposed of the bodies and Sid had wiped the memories of the survivors, sending them on their merry way, he reclined on a lounge and closed his eyes, revelling in the drugs that had passed into his body from the partygoers. That was the worst thing about the whole immortal bit, he thought, being unable to just take drugs the old fashioned way. It didn't hit as hard, unless the person he fed off had overdosed. He did that, sometimes, pushed them until they thought they were having the most marvellous time in the world taking too much for their bodies to handle.

Sid lay on the lounge in the corner, Cassie on top of him smiling contentedly. Her head lay on his chest, and her eyes had drifted shut. Sid was smiling pleasantly, gazing at the ceiling, running his hands lightly over her back. Chris could see that one of Cassie's arms had reached up and was playing with Sid's hair.

Chris loved Cassie. He also loved Sid. They were like family members he'd never had when he was alive, like people he could happily spend forever with. He didn't want to be with either of them, not in the way they wanted to be with each other. He didn't want to be with anyone that way, and never had. It didn't bother him though, he thought, ignoring when Cassie leant up briefly to kiss Sid on the lips, and something inside him ached.

V^^^^^V

"But I don't need to be cultured." He shrugged at Cassie and Michelle, as they both rolled their eyes at him. "What?" He asked, genuinely confused.

"You don't expect to get through college being a party boy, do you?" Michelle crossed her arms, smirking at him when he frowned.

"Hello, we're immortal. If children can do it so can I." He pointed at Michelle after a moment. "And they need sleep, and sexual experimentation, and loads and loads of drugs. It'll be piece of piss." He grinned as Michelle turned to Cassie for a moment, giving her a look he couldn't read.

"Come to the symphony." Cassie blinked at him, smiling.

"If you hate it, we won't force you again, alright?" Michelle raised an eyebrow at him, and he rolled his eyes and threw his hands up turning away from them.

"Fine, but I'm not promising anything and I'm bringing pills." He moved toward his room, as Michelle called out behind him.

"It's not exactly the context for pills, Chris!"

What did she know? He was expecting to be bored out of his mind, slipping some ecstasy to some of the oldies and feeding off them sounded like a good alternative plan.

He heard Tony talking to someone in the yard, peering curiously out of the window and seeing him hugging a thin girl. He raised his eyebrows briefly when he realised she was a vampire.

"Effy." Sid mumbled, standing behind him and watching them too.

"Who?" Chris frowned, looking her up and down.

"Tony's sister. Don't think she's down with the whole, you know, trying to fit in thing." Sid smirked slightly at Chris, as Chris rolled his eyes.

"Yeah well, in all honesty neither am I, mate. But you know," He winked at Sid. "Where you and Cass go…" He trailed off as Sid patted his back.

"Wouldn't have it any other way."

They both turned to watch as the girl left the yard, and Tony walked off in the opposite direction.

"Ready?" Michelle asked behind them, and Sid snorted.

"Why do I have to go and not him, then?" Chris pointed to Sid, feeling an unfairness to the situation. "He's as cultured as my left ball."

"Don't question it, mate. Clearly Cass thinks I'm more refined than you." Sid raised his nose, skipping out of the way as Chris aimed a kick at him.

"Just come on, would you?" Michelle asked impatiently, and Chris followed her after flipping off Sid. Wanker.

The music was quite lovely, he conceded, turning in his chair to look around at all the fancily dressed oldies. Michelle jabbed him, glaring at him and motioning for him to watch the concert. Cassie was on her other side, moving her hands over the air as if conducting the orchestra herself.

He folded his arms and sank down in his seat. Blending in could fuck right off if this was what it meant, sitting and listening to people playing the music of dead composers they'd never met.

"Please welcome Jalander Fazer." A tuxedoed man announced, as the applause had died down after a particularly spectacular piece had finished. Chris was wondering how many pills he would have to slip the fat man sitting next to him when he saw her walk to the centre of the stage and stand, holding a clarinet, and staring defiantly at the audience.

He felt himself sit forward, hands clutching the arms of his chair, and couldn't tear his gaze from her face, or her mouth, as she played, fingers moving effortlessly over the instrument. He thought that if his heart was still beating, it would have skipped.

The piece was over too soon, and he watched her walk off the stage. He stood without meaning to, hurrying along the row of seats and exiting the auditorium. He left the theatre, turning down an alleyway and listening closely at the stage door.

She didn't exit for half an hour, and he found he couldn't approach her when she did. Turned his back as she walked past him, inhaled the scent of her and felt his fangs extend slightly. He didn't want to bite her though, and it confused him for a moment.

Cassie hugged him when he emerged from the alleyway, disoriented slightly and frowning. She held him tightly, and he awkwardly patted her back after a moment.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, pulling back and he was slightly alarmed to see she had tears in her eyes. Michelle handed her a tissue quickly, and Cassie wiped the dark liquid away before anyone else could see it.

He hated when Cassie went cryptic. Had spent countless hours trying to convince her to tell him what was going to happen in the future, bemoaning her method of not telling anyone a damned thing, instead muttering foreboding sentences and giving them all looks they could never understand until much, much later.

"For what?" He shook his head.

She shook hers in reply, and turned, walking toward the car.

He returned to the symphony every night by himself. Watched Jalander avidly, leaning forward on his chair in the front row and gazing at every part of her, instead of her neck. She was beautiful, she was magnificent. She was like a wish he'd forgotten he'd made as a child.

Every night he waited in the alleyway until she left, unable to gather enough courage to talk to her.

"What you doing?" She asked him unexpectedly one night, and he flinched with his back to her, glancing quickly over his shoulder.

"Er, hi." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets so hard he felt them rip and turning to face her.

"Listen pervert, stop waiting here in the dark. It's fucking creepy and I'll report you if you don't go away." She had her clarinet case held out in front of her as if in threat.

"I'm not a pervert!" He stepped toward her, the stage door light illuminating his face suddenly. She seemed to relax when she saw how young he was, and the wide opened expression on his face. "I think you're incredible." He said, unable to control himself.

She frowned at him slightly, and then blew out a breath. "Thanks. But why do you stand here every night? My brothers are on their way to pick me up because I'm too freaked out to get home by myself." She put her clarinet case on the ground, pulling her jacket closer around her.

He stared at her, felt himself getting lost in the slight suspicion and annoyance in her eyes.

"I wanted to talk to you but I was nervous." He rambled at her, wondering for a moment that he was acting like he wasn't really older than her great grandfather.

She sighed, pausing, her eyes softening slightly. "Well." She said, as a car horn tooted at the mouth of the alleyway. "That's sort of sweet. What's your name?" She scrutinized him as he extended his hand.

"Chris." He said, memorising the feel of her warm skin against his cool hand when they touched.

"Jal." She replied, pulling her hand back after a moment of gazing at him curiously. "Don't be nervous." She said, beginning to walk away. "I'm not that terrifying." She gave him a slight smile, and then turned, hurrying off to the car.

"But I am." He said softly to her retreating form, reaching the hand that had held hers up to his face and laying it gently against his cheek.

V^^^^^V

He had been in love for the first time. Some moments, spent sitting in the park or in the car, once when he crawled into her duvet cover with her because she suddenly had an urge to be in it, he forgot he was a vampire or that she wouldn't live forever. In those moments he understood Tony, understood suddenly what he was trying to recapture.

He didn't tell her what he was, other than a college student who was unsure what he wanted to be in the future. When his fangs extended accidently when they were making out, or when the sun appeared, he made excuses and avoided her questions.

When he asked her what she wanted out of life, and she said steady work as a concert clarinettist, a family and happiness, he swallowed the dread that moved from his throat and settled in his stomach heavily. When he asked what would be the one thing about the world she would miss if it were to end, she replied "The sun on my face."

"Ah." He cleared his throat, rolling away from her for a moment, until she gently coaxed him back toward her and kissed him.

He understood, finally, what Cassie and Sid meant when they said they loved each other. Understood why Tony and Michelle sometimes looked at each other for a bit longer than necessary. Was enabled to understand why Emily, later, had chosen Naomi.

He would tell Jal, of course, eventually. He had years, really, before a noticeable age difference would be between them. Because he wanted to turn her, he wanted to spend forever with her, but he didn't want to frighten her away. She hated fantasy, rolled her eyes at the mention of the supernatural, and had adamantly told him one day that she was perfectly acceptable that she would some day die and it made life that much more beautiful.

He would tell her, he promised himself, but when the time was right.

After all, time was something he had in abundance.

V^^^^^V

Tony caught him as he'd collapsed, unable to believe it had happened.

Of all the possibilities for the future, he had never anticipated that one. That one without Jal.

He wanted to find the driver and rip his throat out, set fire to his body, break every single bone in it. He couldn't move though, all of his body weight held up by Tony who just hugged him.

This is what it feels like to die, he thought miserably, his real death forgotten.

"This is what I mean, Chris." Tony said harshly in his ear, gripping him tightly as Chris felt himself weeping. "Death isn't right. It destroys everything." Tony shook him slightly. "Do it for her."

Chris gripped Tony's shoulders, pushing away from him suddenly.

"I need to be alone." He mumbled, wiping the blood from his eyes, turning and running as fast as he could out of the house and into the surrounding countryside. It was too much. He'd had no idea his heart could hurt so badly, he thought it had died years ago.

For a few moments he wanted to keep running, screaming, until he found the sun.

V^^^^^V

"How do you feel when you look at her?" He hugged his knees to his chest, watching Emily as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

"I can't describe it." She muttered after a moment, looking out into the garden and watching Cook, Freddie and Sid talking and laughing.

"Is it like, you just forgot, for an instant, that you're a villain?" He crossed his legs, leaning toward her slightly. "Forgot you're not just another teenager with a crush?"

"Sort of." She whispered, and then rolled her eyes at herself. "She's just a mortal though. Katie's right."

He watched as she straightened her shoulders and then glanced at him.

"We all started out that way, remember." He said softly, and gave her a small smile when she looked at him and frowned.

He loved Emily, loved all of them. They were his family. He would find this Naomi, he decided, and if Emily wanted her, wanted to be with her, he would do everything to protect them both. Naomi from feeling frightened at the thought of vampires, and Emily from the pain of losing someone forever.

That's what he'd learned, he thought ruefully as he drove toward Roundview to pick Emily and Naomi up as a surprise. Everyone was unique, and special. When one person died, the whole world changed. It lost that person, lost the little bit of light they gave off, and it was gone forever.

V^^^^^V

Later, when he found out what Katie had done, he wished he'd had someone to do the same for him.

V^^^^^V


	13. Freddie

His dad had finally bought him a trumpet when he was nine years old.

He'd wanted one since before he could remember, but his dad had always told him that he had to be patient. If he still wanted one in a week, in a month, in a few year's time, he'd get one. Wouldn't it make it that much more worth it, his dad had told him while he sulked in the corner over another seventh birthday present that wasn't a loud, golden instrument, to know he truly wanted it? His dad had spoken to him endlessly about how he had felt forced into being a boot maker with his own father, before running away to be a musician.

"You can be anything." His dad put his hand on his shoulder, speaking to him gently. "You don't have to follow me, not if you don't want it."

But of course he wanted it, he thought watching his dad through the crack in the stage wall as Lena, with the soft velvety voice and sparkling dresses, flirted with him on stage. His dad was the best trumpet player he'd ever seen. Lena was beautiful too, not more than the pictures of his mum his dad kept in the tin with their minimal savings, but still enough to make his cheeks flush when she pinched them.

"We're not allowed to watch!" Karen cuffed him over the back of his head and pushed him over. He glared up at her, rubbing his hair and scrambling to his feet.

Karen raised an eyebrow at him, rolled her eyes when he stayed quiet, just stared back at her defiantly.

"I'm telling Dad." She stuck her tongue out before turning, skipping back to the dressing room where they were meant to be sleeping.

He turned his face back to the crack in the wall, saw his dad laughing with Lena before pressing his lips to the trumpet he held and making it growl. Lena threw her hands into the air, belting out a note that made his chest feel funny, made his eyes shut and a grin spread his cheeks wide.

He didn't care if he got in trouble, if Karen told on him. It was worth it for this moment. He wanted to be just like his dad one day, more than anything.

He wanted to be a trumpet player.

V^^^^^V

Karen sang, and Freddie played the trumpet. It worked because they were siblings, because he was good and she was beautiful and unafraid. She wore dresses with the slit all the way to her hip, and flirted as much with the audience as she did with the band.

Freddie hadn't stopped playing since he'd finally gotten his trumpet, had slept with it in the tiny beds they travelled round with. When he was thirteen, and getting taller by the minute, and in effect more cramped in the beds each night, he put it next to him instead. It was the last thing he saw before he went to sleep, the first every morning when he cracked his eyes open.

Karen had scoffed at him until he'd learnt to play properly, and had grudgingly admitted he was okay. His dad played in the band until Lena left, running off with the clarinettist and making his dad's playing seem to fall suddenly flat. Karen had been fourteen then, but she'd pleaded with their dad to let her sing, let her take over for Lena. Their dad had refused for the longest time, as girls only slightly older and far less talented took their turns fronting the jazz band, until one night she had beaten him down and he agreed to let her have a chance. Just one, for just one night, so she could see how hard it was.

She had loved it though, and Freddie had stood in the wings watching his sister singing, feeling his eyes close and grin widen, had seen the tears on his dads cheeks when the song had finished.

His dad had stopped playing when Freddie was sixteen, had declared himself too old. It was natural for Freddie to take over, he knew all the songs anyway. He slipped up a few times at first, felt Karen glaring at him over her shoulder before turning back to the club's patrons and smiling. But he kept at it, felt his confidence bolstered in particular when the other musicians in the band started ribbing him for all the female attention he was attracting.

It was true, though. Girls loved him, watched him avidly as they were swung around the dance floor by partners who couldn't hold their attention. Loved the enthusiastic applause he received after numbers that forced his fingers to fly over the valves and his tongue to flutter out the notes. Was particularly pleased that these skills helped him in areas outside of trumpet playing, the sound of a woman orgasming beneath him the only thing he found close enough to the joy that playing brought.

There was a down side, of course, he thought as he felt his cheek slapped for the umpteenth time that month by a jealous girl who thought when he told her he liked her he was promising forever. He loved his sister, he loved his trumpet, he loved his dad. He hadn't met any girl that measured up to any of them, though. Instead put up with the fawning for the attention, for the fucking, for the bored moments when he wasn't on stage.

The night he saw her for the first time, he'd missed his cue and almost fucked up the whole number. He'd blushed, apologised, launched into his part at a different moment, and ignored the exasperated look on Karen's face when she turned to him. There were a lot of people on the dance floor that night, the air hazy with smoke and heat. He had wiped the sweat from his brow, and out of his eyes, and caught a glimpse of someone watching him from a table in the back. Had seen bright red hair, and painted lips smirking at him. Could see pale shoulders and more than a hint of cleavage from the low cut dress she was wearing. He'd felt his interest piqued not only because he found her more than attractive, but also because she wasn't looking at him with adoration or awe, like almost every other girl in the place.

No, she looked like she knew something about him he didn't. Like she was better than him, and he found himself more attracted to her than he had been to anyone else.

He'd approached her during the break, pushing his way through the mass of people between the stage and her table, had smiled at her as charmingly as he could when he reached her.

"Hello." He'd gestured to the empty seat across from her. "Mind if I join you?" He kept smiling, waiting as she slowly turned her head toward him and narrowed her eyes.

"Fine." She said, the smirk gone and her expression blank. "Though I'm not really in the mood to chat." He noticed her watching other patrons with a strange expression on her face, wincing every now and then.

"Oh well, don't let me bother you." He wanted to frown at her dismissal, at her lack of eagerness for him to join her. He hadn't felt that way since he was a boy waiting in the wings for his dad and sister to leave the limelight, and join him back in the shadows.

She looked him up and down, tilting her head to look into his eyes and stare, as if searching. He felt slightly alarmed but kept his smile warm, hoping against all hope she would ask him to sit with her. He had ten minutes, and she was the most interesting person he had met in a long time. He wanted to get to know her.

She smiled suddenly, looking at the table, and then batting her eyelashes at him coquettishly.

"You can sit." She murmured, gesturing with her hand. "Please."

"Can I get you a drink?" He smiled as charmingly as he could, though she shook her head. "Are you here alone?"

She tilted her shoulders back, pushing her chest out, watching his eyes as she did so. He didn't let them stray to her cleavage, though wanted to look so desperately he felt the smile freeze on his face for a moment as he struggled to control himself.

"I am." She smirked at him. "You're not bad at trumpet playing."

He felt himself frown slightly. Not bad?

"Not bad?" He couldn't help it, he'd never received anything short of praise. He felt his face clear when he remembered the missed cue. "Usually I'm much more on the ball, you know? I got a bit distracted tonight."

"Right." She replied, eyeing a couple at the table over from theirs with a strange look on her face. He'd thought it would be something akin to lust if the thought didn't make him feel strange in his stomach.

"I'm Freddie, by the way." He stuck his hand over the table, and she turned back to him, extending her own delicately.

Her skin was smooth and cool, and he felt his groin twitch with the way she lowered her eyes and her lips quirked as their hands touched.

"Katie."

He had to excuse himself then, as Harry the horn player came to retrieve him, the band break over.

He had played the rest of the night to her, and she had watched his every movement. She was the type of girl, he thought suddenly as their eyes met over the crowd, he could fall in love with.

He was disappointed at the end of the night when he saw her table empty. Hadn't noticed her leave, had been too caught up in the music, and playing his heart out.

V^^^^^V

He lit a cigarette that had been lined with marijuana as he left the club, waving off his mates in the band who were keen to keep the night going. He might've gone with them, he usually did, drinking and dancing with girls who were far too eager to let him fuck them at the end of the night, but he couldn't stop thinking about Katie.

His trumpet case swung against his side as he walked, smoking and gazing toward the stars.

"Hey."

He heard her voice drifting out of an alleyway, and puffed on his cigarette, grinning suddenly when Katie walked out of the shadows toward him.

"Oh, hello!" He mumbled around the filter, inclining his head toward her. "You're out late."

She smirked at him, walking closer, leaning up to gently pull the cigarette from his lips and take a drag on it herself.

"I'm what you might call a 'night owl'." She exhaled, looking deeply into his eyes before holding the cigarette to his lips. "Do you like the night, Freddie?"

He felt himself nod, her fingertips tracing his jaw delicately before she took the cigarette back.

"Did you mean it?" She whispered, throwing the fag on the ground and crushing it with her heel. She grabbed his face in both hands, peering at him intently even as her voice shook ever so slightly. "Did you mean it?" She repeated, her voice low, the words hissing past her lips.

He didn't know what she was asking, felt himself leaning down toward her, prepared to promise her anything.

"Yes." He answered, before he pressed his mouth against hers and sighed. He'd never felt so much, before, and thought again about love.

She hesitated before kissing him so forcefully he had to take a step backwards, his trumpet case slipping from his fingers and falling to the ground.

V^^^^^V

It had been just him and Katie for a few weeks, luring young girls and boys into the shadows and having their way with them. Katie always turned to him afterwards, blood dripping from her bottom lip, holding his face so hard it almost hurt him.

"Tell me you love me." She would whisper harshly, demanding.

"I love you Katie." He would always respond before moving his hands to her hips and lifting her onto his lap.

They would fuck for hours, his fingers splayed over her shoulders, her head thrown back toward the ceiling. She would demand it then, too.

"Tell me you love me." Her voice strained, her nails digging into his thighs.

"I love you Katie." He would groan out, thrusting into her with everything he had.

She had taken him to Emily, to Cook and Effy. He hadn't thought, stupidly, that there were others, though meeting them made him as happy as meeting Katie for the first time.

"Freddie and I are together." Katie had announced, her eyebrow raised toward Effy, who blinked slowly and otherwise didn't react.

"Nice to meet you." Emily, Katie's twin, smiled at him and shook his hand. It was all so normal that he wondered that he hadn't spent the last few weeks as a vampire feeding and killing people.

"Cheers." He smiled at her, charmingly, noticing the way her eyes flickered between Katie and Effy as they continued to stare at each other.

"Welcome to the fold, mate!" Cook had hugged him excitedly. "I'm telling you, glad for another bloke around, yeah?" Cook had grinned at him, and Katie had torn her eyes away from Effy and rolled them when she spotted Cook.

Emily looked between all of them, a slight frown on her face.

"Yeah, it's great to meet you lot." He reached for Katie's hand, taking comfort when she squeezed his in return.

Effy stood slowly, then, and sauntered over to him. She kept her eyes trained on Katie the whole way, until she stopped in front of Freddie, and gazed up at him.

"Charmed." She murmured, extending her hand.

"Yeah." He responded, taking in the length of her, the way her hair fell in waves over her shoulders, the way her eyes almost sparkled as he felt himself falling into them. He removed his hand from Katie's to shake Effy's, and that was when, he thought much later, everything had started to go wrong.

V^^^^^V

He stood on his balcony, trumpet in hand, unsure what to play.

He thought back to Katie, how she had taken him from one life and thrown him into another, based solely on the fact that he loved her. He knew that now, he wasn't stupid. Knew he had served a purpose.

Effy had never really paid him that much attention, had fucked him and fed with him a few times after he'd ended it with Katie, but had only seemed to do so when Katie was around to notice. Cook had shrugged his shoulders, seemed far too interested in shagging and biting anything that moved than getting caught up in the 'girl drama'. Had told him, once, that Effy had warned him about falling in love with her, had turned him for the company as opposed to any sort of emotional attachment and had made sure he had known it.

That was all years later, of course. Years after he saw his sister for the last time, after he became something he never dreamt of being.

He held the trumpet to his lips, exhaling forcefully into the instrument, letting his fingers move over the valves effortlessly.

He had sat down with Katie once, after a night where everyone had seemed to enjoy themselves except for them. Cook and Emily had attracted an entire choir full of young women, and Effy had shrugged, laughing lightly, and gone along with them.

"Katie, listen." He held her hand between his, feeling awkward. When she'd pressed her mouth to his ear and whispered about forever, back when forever was something he didn't understand, he had thought it was entirely possible. Being with someone for the rest of your life.

"I know." She said it quietly, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"Look, thank you for choosing me. I mean," he cocked his head to the side slightly, squeezing Katie's hand. "I just didn't realise how long forever is, you know?"

"Fuck's sake." Katie mumbled, pulling her hand away from his. "It's fine, alright? It was fucking stupid to, I don't even fucking know." She stood, pushing her shoulders back and turning away from him.

He stood quickly too, calling out to her. "Are we alright?"

She rolled her eyes when she turned to him, and it hurt to realise, somewhere deep down, that this was the only Katie he would know now.

"Of course we fucking are. Sorry, is this the point where I'm meant to cry because you fell out of love with me?" She narrowed her eyes, teeth bared, and laughed. "Fat fucking chance. I'm going to find Effy and them, yeah?"

He hadn't followed her. The choir had kept them all entertained for days, and he had used the time alone to brood. He had taken out his trumpet, wiping the dust away guiltily, and struggled to remember the last time he had played the thing.

Of course it was the night Katie had found him, and he blinked when he realised he'd never played it as a vampire. That the last time his lips had touched the mouthpiece, they'd been alive.

He had resolved then to play it whenever he could, to remind himself who he was and what he had once decided to be.

He finished the song, not recognising the notes and wondering where it had come from. He stayed on the balcony, looking into the night as a breeze ruffled his hair.

"That was lovely."

He turned, seeing Emily smiling softly at him.

"Cheers." He shrugged, smiling at her easily.

"What was it?" She moved to stand next to him, leaning on the railing as the breeze made her hair fly around her face, for a moment making her look like Katie.

"Not sure, really. Just something I had to get out."

They were silent, side by side, before he frowned at her.

"You really love Naomi, don't you?" He held the trumpet in his hands loosely, the familiarity of it sometimes the only thing that stabilised him.

Emily peered into the night, the lights of Bristol winking at them as if in secret.

"I think so." She said after a moment, glancing at him with such a vulnerable look that he extended his arm and placed it around her shoulders.

"Well, be sure, yeah? It's a long time to be in love." He shook his head slightly. "I mean, just. Fuck. I almost wish she hadn't turned me, sometimes. I might've handled fifty years of it. You know?" He shrugged again, tightening his half embrace.

She shook her head. "I don't want to turn her, Freds. That's the problem. I don't want her to have to, I don't know, deal with this. It changes you, and you can't ever really change back."

He gripped his trumpet tighter in one hand, his other gently squeezing Emily's shoulder.

"I think that's love, then, girl." He pulled his arm back, winking at her.

"Yeah." She stared into the distance for a minute, before smirking at him. "For what it's worth, apologies for my twat of a sister. I never really understood, back then, you and her."

He snorted, bringing the trumpet halfway to his mouth.

"It was doomed from the start. But you and your girl, Naomi," he paused thoughtfully. "I think it's different, for what it's worth."

She blinked, shrugging a little helplessly before leaning her back against the railing and tilting her head toward him.

"Play something."

He brought the trumpet to his mouth, remembered to make his lungs inhale, before he pursed his lips and blew.

He shut his eyes as he played, saw his father laughing as Lena batted her eyelashes at him, saw Karen dragging her hand over her thigh as she sang to a smiling crowd. The memories burned brightly in his mind, his tongue fluttering over the notes. He saw himself, finally, as a young boy watching from the wings and dreaming of what he could be.

A trumpet player. 


End file.
